Too Close to This
by IReadAndWriteSometimes
Summary: Andy and Sharon have important plans for the following Friday, but suddenly life decides to try to derail them. [sequel to the story 'Merry Shandy']
1. Chapter 1 - A Tedious Monday

You wanted a sequel to my story Merry Shandy. Well, here it goes. :)

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 **Chapter 1 - A Tedious Monday**

"Here you go, Captain," Andy said, coming into Sharon's office uninvited and dropping a piece of paper on her desk.

The door was open, but she still gave his route a pointed look before setting her eyes on his. He was grinning at her, not a single worry on his mind, apparently. She then carefully took hold of the so unceremoniously offered piece of paper and when she realized what it was, let out a soft laugh.

Still grinning, Andy, said, "Need Friday off, Captain." He gave her an amused raise of an eyebrow and added, "Got something of a rather personal nature going on."

"Interesting," she said, putting the document aside, "I'm taking the day off as well."

"Huh," Andy let out, feigning surprise.

She gave him a broad smile and an appraising look. "I'll take it under consideration. Now, go back to work, Lieutenant," she instructed, waving him off with a hand.

"Yes, Ma'am," Andy quipped and gave her a mock salute on his way out.

They were both taking Friday, February 24th, off because they were getting married that afternoon. She was not surprised by Andy's sudden theatrics. Their getting married was still not against department policy, but she had, earlier in the month, taken a moment to reiterate to Andy the importance of conducting themselves professionally and by the book at work. So naturally, he decided to make a show of doing exactly as she asked, minus the rude barging into her office, by putting in an official request for a day off.

Despite the change in their relationship status, Taylor had never made any changes in regards to her making decisions about Andy's paid leave or similar matters, and had left her in charge of those, resting assured she would not abuse her power. Howard, who was (still only temporarily) filling in Taylor's tragically vacated position, had not deemed any changes in that regard necessary either. And as she sat back laughing quietly to herself about her future husband's antics, she mentally thanked them for their trust in her, or else she would have missed out on this fun exchange.

That Monday was a rather tedious day otherwise. With no hot case on her division's platter, she was currently counting down the minutes to finally punching out and going home. Gazing through her office blinds, she saw the rest of her team was in a similar mind set, having completed the last of their paperwork, just as she had, and killing their final work minutes with relaxed chitchat.

So she let her thoughts drift.

She was getting married on Friday. That was the predominant thought on her mind at the moment. She felt positively giddy at the prospect of it and she didn't even have to worry about making it to her own wedding or not. Both her and Andy had decided to officially take the day off and had scheduled the ceremony for after work so that, unplanned cases permitting, the rest of their division could join them. Lieutenant Provenza though, would be joining them no matter what. He was Andy's best man and if push came to shove, he would run out of work long enough to attend the ceremony and do his part, running back to work afterwards if necessary (his words, not hers).

More importantly, however, all their children would be in attendance. And that thought alone made her giddy with excitement, too.

A knock on her, still open, door startled her out of her thoughts. She looked up to find Andy standing there, jacket draped over an arm. He tapped his watch, "Ready to go home?"

She looked at the time on her phone and let out a surprised, "Oh."

"You okay?" Andy asked, concern in his voice at her somewhat lost state.

"I'm fine," she waved him off, smiling and already getting to her feet to collect her things and herself. "Got lost in my thoughts," she explained, quite happily.

He gave her a brief appraising look, then, obviously deciding she was indeed fine, shrugged and said, "Alright, need any help?"

"No, I've got everything," she assured him, brushing past her desk towards him. She walked past him, knowing he would follow, and threw her team a goodbye on her way out. Reaching the outside of the murder room, she grabbed hold of Andy's hand and said, "Let's go home."

Home. Although she still sometimes caught herself thinking of the condo at the word home, whenever she found herself mentally correcting herself, she also had to smile to herself. More than a month ago, they had finally moved out of the condo and into a large three-bedroom, and more importantly, two-bathroom house. Rusty had moved with them, too. He had made some noises about moving out right at the beginning of the year, but had not made any final decisions on that front yet. Whatever he ultimately decided, he was welcome to stay as long as he wanted, whenever he wanted. That much both Andy and Sharon had made clear the moment they gave him his own keys to the house.

"I could go for a swim," she told Andy, when they reached his car. They had come into work together that morning.

"What a shocker," he told her on a sarcastic chuckle, opening the door to her seat.

She laughed and folded herself into the offered passenger seat. It was no shocker, he was right. Ever since they moved into the house, she had spent at least half an hour almost each day doing laps in the pool they bought with the house.

"You're free to keep me company," she told him when he sat behind the wheel as she put her seatbelt on.

"In or beside the pool?" he asked, fumbling with his own seatbelt.

It was no secret he preferred watching her over swimming with her. Mostly, not that he would ever admit it, it was because he simply couldn't keep up with her, and being the competitive soul that she was, she never tried slowing down for his benefit.

"Can't keep up with me, can you?" she teased.

"Okay, I'll just get started on dinner then," he told her sarcastically, making a pointed show of pulling the car out of its parking space as if to put an end to the topic of the conversation that way, too.

"That's a shame," she told him, as seriously as she could past her laughter.

"Sure," he said, still somewhat sarcastically.

"Oh, I'm being serious," she assured him.

"What did you do?" he slanted her a quick, suspicious look.

"There's only one way for you to find out," she told him, smiling coyly now.

"Urgh," he grunted, stepping on the gas pedal, getting the car to speed up.

" _That_ ," she gave him a pointed look, "not being the _right_ way," she admonished.

Andy only grunted again, but slowed down.

...

"So we order in and then enjoy the pool?" Andy asked as they made their way up the porch's steps.

"Sounds like a plan," Sharon agreed, unlocking their front door and letting them into the house.

"Rusty?" Andy asked, slipping off his suit jacket and hanging it up on the coat rack to the left of the door. He shot a look at one of the closed doors at the end of the hallway there. The other door led to the guest room and if he were to walk down the hallway and take a slight right turn he'd find another door leading to the second bathroom.

"Count him out," Sharon told him, depositing her purse on the little commode to the right of the door and her keys into a bowl they kept on it there. "He texted that he was staying with Gus tonight," she added, now busy slipping out of her heels.

"Oh," Andy quirked an eyebrow at her, taking off his service weapon and depositing it safely into a box next to their key bowl. "I'm glad I agreed to your pool idea then," he told her on a cocky grin.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Andy," Sharon admonished, no real heat behind the words, as she made her way into their living room.

"Bossy," Andy mumbled, but followed her.

Their living room was larger than the living area of Sharon's condo, however, they had furnished it more or less the exact same way it had been in the condo. The only new thing was Andy's larger TV and a couple of bean bags that Andy's grandchildren had picked out. The boys had helped out (as much as boys their age could help out) with the move and Sharon and Andy had quite jokingly told them that, as a reward, they could help pick out at least one piece of furniture. They then actually took them furniture shopping, since they needed some things for their guest room, and when the boys fell in love with the fluffy, dark orange seating possibilities, they bought them on an impulse. They haven't regretted the buy either. They boys really did sit on them whenever they visited, and both Rusty and Gus seemed to like them, too, considering they sat more often on them than on the chairs or the couch.

At the end of the room, there was a set of glass doors leading out onto the patio. To their right they would be led into the dining area and the partially closed off and separated kitchen. On the wall left of them was a door leading into Sharon's and Andy's bedroom, from where they had sole access to the master bathroom and a walk-in closet. Having their and Rusty's bedroom on opposite sides of the house had been quite the selling point for Rusty, although he quite enjoyed the perks of a pool and covered patio, too.

"Chinese sound good?" Sharon asked, fiddling with her phone as she turned the corner into the kitchen.

"Yeah," Andy told her, already busy with putting on some water to boil for her usual tea.

"Oh," Sharon let out in surprise, when the phone she was holding suddenly went off.

Andy gave her a questioning look. "Patrice," she told him, reading the caller ID.

"Hello, Patrice," she said cheerfully into the phone, offering Andy a smile.

When her eyes went wide and she suddenly lay a hand flat against the kitchen counter, Andy frowned and took a step towards her. Something was wrong. "What is it?" he whispered.

Sharon waved him off and instead, answered Patrice. "Where are you?" She spoke calmly. Too calmly and it instantly had Andy even more on edge.

"We're on our way," she said after Patrice clearly told her where she was. "Do you need me to call anyone?" she then asked, already making her way out of the kitchen, making Andy go after her. After a pause she said, "No? Okay."

Another pause, as Sharon nodded, not that Patrice could see her. "I know, we'll be there as soon as possible."

With that Sharon hung up, taking a deep breath. Andy, hot on her heels, immediately asked, alarmed now, "What the hell is going on?"

Calls with Patrice were not an unusual occurrence, but this particular call definitely was.

They had already reached their hallway so Sharon put her phone down next to her purse, and turned toward Andy, putting a hand on his arm. "It's Lieutenant Provenza," she told him softly, squeezing his arm in an attempt to calm him down before he could even get agitated.

But Andy instantly reached for his suit jacket, asking "What happened?" as he did so.

She sighed, the reaction not being one she hoped for, albeit not a surprising one either, but sprung into action, too, slipping back into her heels and grabbing the keys and her purse. "He collapsed 10 minutes ago. They took him to Cedars," she explained.

"Oh, my God," Andy let out, flinging the front door open. "I'm gonna kill him if he's done something stupid," he declared, walking through it.

Sharon took a breath and followed him out, just as worried as Andy.

 **TBC**

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Do tell me what you think? I have a lot more planned for you.


	2. Chapter 2 - Worried

Oh, I love your response, but it also has me slightly worried about what you'll say to the next development. Give it a read and tell me what you think!

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 **Chapter 2 - Worried**

They spent the ride to the hospital in deafening silence, both lost in thought. Sharon, not wanting Andy in his worried state to drive, had insisted on doing so herself. Not that she felt any calmer, but she trusted herself more at the moment. Besides, Provenza was Andy's partner and friend much longer than he ever would be hers, she probably _was_ calmer.

The thoughts occupying their minds were similar.

Patrice had not said where they were, when Sharon's second in command collapsed or whether he injured himself in the fall. As to the cause of the collapse, it wasn't difficult to guess that it could have been a heart attack. He was less careless about his blood pressure than Andy was. Patrice, being a retired nurse, made sure he ate more healthily, too, but at his age, it was still a realistic possibility. Sharon, however, although incredibly worried about Provenza, who had, albeit begrudgingly on his part, become such a cherished friend of hers, found herself worrying about Andy, too. She kept slanting worried looks at him, his own health issues suddenly prominently featured in her mind, but his eyes were set dead on the road ahead of them, the only visible signs of his worry a hand resting on top of his thigh, balled into a tight fist, and his equally tightly, clenched jaw.

But aside from her worry for both of her senior Lieutenants, another worry popped into her head. Rusty. What if the worst came to pass? How would he react? How would she tell him? At the mere possibility of having to break such terrible news, she had to swallow hard, past the lump in her throat, and blink a few times to prevent her vision from clouding over with tears. _She_ was not ready to lose Provenza. In no universe would Patrice, Andy and Rusty be. And what about the rest of his family? As she came to those realizations she unconsciously stepped on the gas pedal.

All kinds of thoughts went through Andy's head. Although rationally, he knew it could have been just a fainting spell (if anyone was familiar with those, Andy was), but the worst possibility, of course, came to the foreground of his mind. What if it's serious? What if it was a heart attack? What if he was in surgery? What if he was gone? At that thought, a sudden dread washed over him, starting somewhere in his chest in the form of uncomfortable pressure, but nestling itself in the pit of his stomach. In his mind there was no room for some of the more rational questions Sharon asked herself, because his one worry was, that he might be losing his partner and (not counting Sharon) his best friend. He had been confronted with his own mortality much too often for his liking lately, so that was nothing new by now, but when it came to his grumpy old partner, he just never imagined something as stupid as a collapse bringing him down. Not outside of work at least.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt the car speeding up. He slanted a look at Sharon next to him and his worry only increased. To an untrained eye she seemed perfectly calm. But he noticed how she clutched the steering wheel just a little more tightly than usually, how her shoulders were just a tad squared, and when he saw her swallow, probably not for the first time either, he knew her thoughts had not only gone to places his had, but to places which were even worse. He reached out a hand, to touch her arm and it got her attention. She gave him a quick, sad, worried look, but grabbed hold of his hand and smiled feebly, before settling it on top of the console between them. They still spent the rest of the drive in silence, but kept hold of each other's hands in quiet support and comfort, until they reached the hospital.

...

"Andy, slow down," Sharon tried as she practically ran after Andy as he entered the hospital's emergency room, immediately zeroing in on the information desk.

"Louie Provenza," Andy started on a yell, but at the feel of Sharon's hand on his arm as she caught up with him, he went on more calmly. "He was brought in here half an hour ago or so."

"And you are?" the young woman working there asked, already looking the name up on her screen.

Andy rolled his eyes, but replied, still deceptively calm, "Andy, Andrew Flynn, I'm on his em-"

"Ah, there you are," she interrupted. "His wife is already with him, they are running a few tests."

"Where is he?" Andy demanded more urgently, no longer heeding Sharon's silent plea to keep calm.

"Sharon, Andy," they suddenly heard.

Both of their heads turned toward the source of the sound to find Patrice standing in front of a set of doors leading who knew where.

"Patrice," Andy said, quickly making his way over to her, the woman at the info desk instantly forgotten.

Sharon offered a feeble "Thank you." then went quickly after Andy.

"What happened?" Andy asked, only worry to his words now.

"Let's sit down, first," Sharon told Patrice, interrupting Andy with a pointed look.

Patrice looked shaken up, she wasn't crying or anything, but the way she seemed to be gazing more into space than at them, certainly made her look like she would keel over at any moment.

Realizing his blunder, Andy put an arm around her and carefully led her to a nearby set of chairs. When he sat down next to her, Sharon joining him on Patrice's other side, he asked, much more gently this time, "What happened?"

Suddenly Patrice laughed, a high, bitter laugh. Andy and Sharon exchanged even more worried looks, not knowing what to read into that particular reaction, but before either one of them could ask again, Patrice finally spoke. "He's just fine," were her first words, and they worked like magic. Sharon and Andy instantly relaxed, the weight of their earlier frenzied worry literally lifting off of them.

"What the hell happened?" Andy embellished his earlier question, frowning now. If his partner was _just fine_ , what the hell was he called to the hospital for?

"We met up for an early dinner after work," Patrice started, still looking somewhat dazed despite her previous laugh, "and just as our order came in, Louie suddenly got to his feet, saying he wasn't feeling all too well," she offered them a sad smile, "and before I could even get out of my chair he just lost consciousness and fell down. They're doing some tests on him right now, but most likely he just needs his medication adjusted."

"Oh, thank goodness," Sharon said on a relieved sigh, leaning on the back of her chair.

Andy however, only frowned. "Why did you call us then?"

Patrice gave him an apologetic shrug. "That's our deal," she explained. "If something happened, whether I know it's serious or not, I am to call you."

Andy's eyebrows shot up and, before Patrice could add more to her explanation, he said, "But you called Sharon, not me."

"Oh, sorry, I was panicking." She gave Sharon a guilty look. "I went through my recent calls list and your name came up first so I just dialed. Louie regained consciousness when the paramedics arrived, but I was still-," she shook her head, not finishing her sentence.

"Worried sick?" Sharon tried, giving Andy a knowing look.

"Oh, that's an understatement, but yes, that's about right," Patrice confirmed on a small smile.

"You know how long those tests will take?" Andy asked, sounding rather impatient all of the sudden.

It drew surprised looks from both Patrice and Sharon, but Patrice replied, "Not more than half an hour, I think."

"Good," Andy muttered, suddenly shrugging out of his jacket and leaning back into his chair. "I wanna see him so I can kill him," he added, folding his arms over his chest.

Patrice raised an eyebrow at him, but he ignored her. Sharon jumped in. "We were worried is all," she explained.

"Oh, right," Patrice let out, leaning into her own chair now, her smile growing, too. "Louie worried like that, too," she told Sharon quietly.

Sharon let out a soft laugh. "Oh, trust me, I know."

...

"What the hell happened to your chin?" Andy asked when he finally set eyes on his partner.

When his tests were done, Patrice had gone into his room first, and had returned a few minutes later to invite Sharon and Andy inside.

Provenza was lying on a bed, a bandage over the bottom of his chin and a frown on his face.

He only huffed in answer, but Patrice provided them with a more useful one. "He split his chin open when he hit the floor," she gave her husband a sympathetic look.

"And now they're even keeping me overnight for observation," Provenza mumbled, rolling his eyes at the last word.

"Well," Patrice sat down on the edge of his bed, where she had probably been perched on before she fetched Andy and Sharon, "you do have a mild concussion, Louie," she told him softly.

"I can just as easily rest in my own bed, at home," Provenza grumbled in complaint.

"I'm sure you can, Lieutenant," Sharon finally spoke, making her way to the foot of his bed, "but I don't think your home is swarming with doctors, like the hospital is," she told him on an amused smile.

Provenza only gave her a bland look, then turned his attention to his partner. He was standing in front of the door, but at Provenza's irritated glare, took a couple of steps further into the room. "What are you two doing here anyway?"

"Maybe you have more than just a mild concussion," Andy told him on a chuckle. He then folded his arms across his chest and gave him a pointed look. "Your wife, per your agreement, gave us a call."

"Ah," Provenza looked at his wife. "Remind me again why we came up with that?" he asked her sarcastically.

Patrice only laughed, patting his arm. "Oh," she started on a happy sigh, "maybe because of your particular line of work and the fact that Andy here, is your partner in crime?"

Provenza only scoffed.

"We're glad you're alright, Lieutenant," Sharon told him on a smile, then gave Andy a brief look. "You had us worried there for a moment," she added.

This time Andy scoffed. "You know, Provenza, you ruined our night." He took the remaining few steps to reach his partner's bed and leaned over slightly, conspiratorially, to quietly add, "Rusty was out, and we," he hooked a thumb at Sharon, "had better plans than this," he waved a hand at his partner's lying form.

"Ye Gods, Flynn," Provenza practically pushed him away from his bed, affronted by the image his partner's tone of voice rather than the words themselves, just planted in his head. But then he suddenly turned his attention to Sharon, a concerned expression on his face. "You didn't tell Rusty anything, did you?" he asked her.

Sharon was in the middle of shooting daggers at Andy, but at Provenza's worried words, turned her head to look at him, her expression softening. "No," she assured him, a small smile playing at her lips, too, probably at the concern Provenza held for her adoptive son. "I didn't really know what to tell him," she shrugged somewhat guiltily, "and I didn-"

"Good," Provenza said, relieved, not at all worried about his rude interruption. "Last thing I need is him hovering over me, too," he muttered.

"Oh, trust me, I'm not hovering," Andy assured him. "I only had to check in to see whether I needed to shop for a new best man," he told him.

Patrice and Sharon exchanged amused, but knowing looks, and let Provenza offer a retort.

"It'll take more than a bit of fainting to keep me away from the miracle that is your wedding," he bit out. "Don't you worry, Flynn," he added sarcastically.

Although Patrice and Sharon suddenly laughed at their words, Andy ignored them and bit out equally sarcastically, "Well, as long as you don't give heart attacks a try, too, I won't."

At that, both Sharon and Patrice stopped laughing.

At the same time, Patrice said, "Don't you dare, Louie," pointing a finger at him in warning, while Sharon shot Andy an unimpressed look and said, "Still not funny, Andy."

Provenza and Andy only gave each other an innocent look and shrugged.

"So what did the doctors say?" Andy decided to change the topic. "You can go back to work, right?" He flopped into a chair next to Provenza's bed.

"Yeah, yeah," Provenza waved his questions off. "They'll just switch up my medication, the one I was taking, apparently wasn't doing its job anymore."

Patrice gave him a sharp look, but addressed Sharon. "He will be out for at least 24 hours though."

"Of course," Sharon instantly replied, ready to give him as much time off as necessary whatever the reason for it was.

But Andy had to know more so he asked, "Why?" giving Provenza a questioning look.

"They will hook him up to a small blood pressure machine tomorrow, which will take his blood pressure every 15 minutes during the day and less frequently during the night," Patrice explained for her husband.

"To make sure the medication is right this time?" Sharon prodded.

"Yes, it records his readings and, after the 24 hour period, the doctor will take a look at them to see how his blood pressure is acting," Patrice said. "It's quite a common procedure nowadays," she added.

Provneza groaned. "What a pain in the ass! They didn't do this when I went on my medication the first time," he complained.

"Probably because that was a hundred years ago?" Andy tried, grinning now.

"Shut up, Flynn," Provenza muttered, sending Sharon and Patrice into a bout of soft laughter.

"He will need to keep a bit still whenever the machine goes off," Patrice explained further, "or else it won't be able to get a proper reading." She offered Provenza an amused smile and added, "So that has Louie in this great mood."

"Why?" Andy asked him, completely serious now. "You sit and do crossword puzzles all day anyway. It's not like it'll upend your whole life all of a sudden." He looked at Sharon for support, shrugging comically, but she only shook her head, the smile on her lips giving away her amusement though.

"Flynn," Provenza pinned him with an irritated glare, "please, I beg you, go home or I just might end up having a heart attack after all."

Andy grinned. "You don't have to tell me twice." He got to his feet and turned to Sharon. "Wanna get out of here?"

She addressed both Provenza and Patrice. "Unless you need something?" she asked them.

"No," Patrice assured her. "But thank you," she added on a warm, grateful smile.

"Don't hesitate to call if you change your mind," Sharon said, already walking over to Andy. "That goes for you, too, Lieutenant," she told him over a pointed look.

"Yes, Captain," he mumbled, but added, quite gratefully actually, "Thank you."

"It's no problem," Sharon assured him, then turned toward Andy.

"Call me if you start dying or something," he threw his partner jokingly, then opened the door for him and Sharon.

As they walked through it, they heard Provenza's amused, "Sure thing, Flynn."

...

"I'm so relieved everything was fine," Sharon mumbled, leaning into Andy's arm as they walked across the parking garage in search of their car.

"Me, too," Andy admitted.

Sharon let out a soft laugh. "You have a strange way of showing it," she told him sarcastically.

"What do you mean?" Andy asked, voice going up defensively.

Sharon shook her head. "Nothing," she mumbled. She saw no reason to point it out, that was just how the two operated.

But Andy, of course, caught up to her train of thoughts. "Just because we don't get sappy around each other, doesn't mean we don't worry or care, you know," he told her sarcastically.

She shook her head again. "I know," she told him honestly. "If I wasn't used to it by now, I'd be seriously worried about the two of you." Then she truly registered his words and shot him a bland look. "Are you implying _I_ get sappy?" she asked in a tone of voice that playfully warned him to tread very lightly.

"Never," Andy instantly retorted. Sappy really wasn't a word he'd ever use to describe her.

"I thought so," she said, on a satisfied smile.

"Seriously though, I'm glad he's okay," Andy told her, his earlier worry seeping back into his voice.

She tightened her hold on his arm. "I know, me, too," she agreed quietly.

"May I drive now?" Andy asked her when they finally reached his car.

Sharon nodded. "Yes, you may," she told him on a smile, stopping in front of the trunk to fish her keys out of her purse. "Oh, where are they?" she said, not finding them in the usual side pocket she put them away in.

"Need any help?" Andy asked, bumping her shoulder with his, amused by the sudden frustration he recognized in her voice.

"Oh, I have to dig through all of this now," she said, annoyed, flopping her purse down on top of the trunk to do just that.

Andy chuckled. "You women carry way too much stuff around in those," he told her, leaning over her shoulder to take a peek at the contents of her purse.

"Oh, hush," she said, hand buried inside her purse in search of the keys. "Hold this," she told him, pressing her wallet and a pack of tissues into his hands.

"Yes, Ma'am," Andy obeyed on a laugh. She suddenly reminded him of his former boss. Not that he would ever say that out loud.

"Andy," she gave up on her search to look at him.

"Tell me you didn't lose them," he told her pleadingly, no longer amused.

"I was practically running after you when we arrived," she told him defensively. At his bland look, she added, "I don't even remember-" She suddenly stopped mid-sentence and her eyes widened. She put a hand into her pants pocket and then pulled it out with a flourish, a wide smile on her lips. A set of keys dangled on one of her fingers. "I was in such a rush that I just slipped them into my pocket," she explained, shaking her head. "Didn't even have time to open my purse, you were already out of the car."

"Oh," Andy rubbed a hand guiltily over the back of his head. "Sorry," he said and meant it.

"Don't worry about it," she told him, pecking him quickly on the lips. "Here you go," she said, pressing the keys into his palm.

"Thanks," he told her.

"Uh, Andy?" she asked as he started rounding the car toward the driver's side.

"Yeah?" he said, looking at her over the car, she was still standing beside the trunk, purse on her shoulder now though.

"Where's your jacket?" she asked, looking pointedly at his upper body, covered in a dark blue dress shirt and a pair of light blue suspenders, no suit jacket in sight.

Andy looked down at himself. "Oh," he let out, surprised. "I must have left it in the hospital," he mumbled, looking heavenward in disbelief.

"The Lieutenant really had us out of sorts. First the keys, now your jacket," she listed off, shaking her head in both amusement and disbelief.

"I'll be right back," Andy told her, already brushing past her, back toward the hospital.

"Don't lose the keys now, too!" she hollered teasingly after him, leaning against the trunk of his car to wait for his return. She laughed to herself when she heard his sarcastic, "Ha-ha."

But then he stopped in his tracks and turned around. "Wanna wait in the car?" he asked her, waving his keys through the air.

"No, go ahead, you'll only be a minute," she assured him on a grateful smile. "I've had enough of sitting at the office today, anyway."

"Right," he said, then turned around toward the hospital again.

...

"Sorry it took so long, jacket wasn't there, had to ask the-," Andy started saying, but stopped himself, when upon reaching his car, he realized Sharon wasn't where he had left her ten minutes ago.

He looked around the car and realized she wasn't there at all.

"Sharon?" he asked, looking around the parking garage.

"What the hell?" he muttered, reaching for his phone to give her a call. He'd have run into her if she had gone back to the hospital. Her phone went off a few times, then it went to voicemail.

That had him slightly worried. She always picked up. Knowing the best thing to do would be to just stay put, he leaned against his trunk. Wherever she had gone, she was bound to get back to the car. But he wasn't a patient man, he succeeded in standing there in peace for maybe ten seconds, then he lit up his phone's screen again and dialed Sharon once more. After the same number of rings it went to voicemail again.

That confused him. Her phone was obviously on and it only went to voicemail automatically after a set number of rings, meaning Sharon did not send his call to voicemail herself.

He decided to ring Provenza. Maybe Sharon did go back there, maybe Patrice thought of something they needed after all, and they just missed each other.

He picked up on the second ring. "What?" was his way of greeting.

"Hey, is Sharon with you maybe?" Andy asked.

"Of course not," he said sharply, the question instantly having annoyed him. But then he suspiciously added, "Why?"

"It's probably nothing," Andy told him, but suddenly dread filled him. A much worse dread than earlier on their way over to the hospital. He had a bad feeling about this. "I had to run back into the hospital, forgot my jacket, and when I got back, she wasn't by the car." He quickly added, "She was supposed to wait for me here."

"Have you tried calling her?" Provenza asked, still sounding slightly annoyed.

"Of course I tried calling her," Andy answered forcefully. "You think I'd call _you_ before _her_?" he yelled, throwing a look around himself again. "She didn't pick up," he added, less loudly, sounding anxious now.

"Calm down, just stay put, I'm sure she'll be right back from wherever she's disappeared to," Provenza told him, although a bit of worry now seeped into his tone of voice, too.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Andy agreed, nodding as if to reassure himself. "I'll call you whe-" he let the sentence drop and with it the hand that was holding his phone to his ear, his eyes now glued to a spot on the concrete floor near his rear tire.

The earlier dread only intensified, a terrible terrifying ache pressing down on his chest. He dropped to his knees to inspect it, not even registering Provenza's now alarmed shouts of "Andy!" emanating from his phone.

How it took him so long to notice was beyond him. There was a familiar pack of tissues there. He moved it with the back of his index finger, then, swallowing hard, lifted his phone up to his ear again. "Call the team," he said urgently, the words immediately silencing his partner. "It's not nothing, Provenza," he told him grimly.

On a strained whisper, he added, "There's blood here, Louie."

 **TBC**

* * *

I know, it's a bit of a cliche, a washed out trope. But I hope you'll still want to see what else I have in store for you. :)


	3. Chapter 3 - Why Is She Not Picking Up?

You are unbelievable! Thanks for the reviews! Let's see what happens when the team gets on the scene, shall we?

* * *

 **Chapter 3 - Why Is She Not Picking Up?**

Provenza was the first one on the scene. Patrice had demanded he stay in bed ("Louie, you have a concussion!") and after quite a bit of arguing with her ("That's my partner and boss we're talking about here!"), he changed tactics and pretended to finally relent and give in ("You're right, the team can handle it."), but only if she would get him something better than hospital food to eat. It was a very lousy attempt at deception, but to his utter shock, she actually agreed to his feigned compromise.

So, still not believing his luck, for Patrice could always see right through him, he slipped out of his room the moment she was out of sight. Andy would never find out, but Provenza had run to get to him as quickly as possible.

He had found Andy crouched next to his rear tire staring at the floor. When he saw what had his partner's attention, he pulled him by an arm and forced him to his feet and away from the car. Surprisingly, Andy put up no fight. Instead, he followed him silently to the nearest wall against which he only slumped, until he slid down to the floor.

"It's not that much blood, Andy," Provenza told him. "And you don't know if it's hers."

Andy only shook his head. The puddle of blood was small enough to be covered by the pack of tissues he found on top of it. Rationally, he knew it wasn't a lot. Emotionally though, the possibility of it still being Sharon's blood filled every corner of his mind with utter dread. So much that he faintly registered a headache starting, a dull thump slowly spreading from his temples throughout his entire skull.

Ignoring all that, he said, begging his partner with a desperate look, as if he would not do so if he didn't, "We need to find her." He then pulled out his phone and started dialing Sharon's number again.

"We will, Andy, we will," Provenza only told him, looking around the garage.

"She's not picking up," Andy said quietly, worriedly.

Provenza had tried calling, too, to no avail. "What about Rusty?" he asked, not bothering to fill Andy in on that particular tidbit.

"I texted him," Andy replied, calling Sharon again. "Didn't mention any of this," he added, no longer bothering bringing his phone up to his ears, instead settling on staring at its screen as it beeped out the rings, "only pretended to make sure we had the place to ourselves. He said he was in the middle of dinner with Gus, no plans to get home till tomorrow morning." He frustratedly ended the call when the faint sound of Sharon's voicemail reached his ears again.

"Okay," Provenza said and left it at that. He gave Andy, still focused on his phone, a long look. He was rather impressed. Andy was keeping it together surprisingly well.

He himself was itching to inspect the scene but didn't dare leave Andy on his own, even if it was just a few steps away, and even though Andy seemed to have his temper under control. But it could only be shock, only temporary, so he looked around again and stayed put. The garage was fairly empty, no cars parked in the entire row Andy's car sat in. Should anyone come its way, he would shoo them away until their team came and took over. Until then he would remain rooted to his spot.

He stood like that for maybe a minute when Patrice finally caught up with him. She wore a worried expression, but upon setting eyes on her husband she shot him a look filled with a mix of worry, anger and exasperation. It made Provenza think she actually _let_ him get away with his earlier scheme, but only tilted his head toward a painfully quiet Andy in response.

He was still seated on the floor, his knees now pushed up, head resting on top of them, his hands clutching his phone on who knew which unanswered call for Sharon. Whether she was still agitated with her husband or not did not matter, because the moment she set eyes on his partner, her features held nothing but concern.

"Andy," she addressed him softly, crouching down.

Guessing correctly that she wanted to check up on him he waved her off, "Don't, I feel fine." He shook his head again, eyes now set on his car and the spot he had last seen Sharon in. "Just let me be, until the team comes in." He spoke in a firm, but clipped tone of voice. "I gotta stay here," he bit out through clenched teeth. "She'll kill me if I contaminate the scene," he added on a short, bitter laugh.

Patrice shot Provenza a surprised look, but he only offered a bitter chuckle in response, saying, "He's right."

"Okay," Patrice said carefully and joined Provenza on his other side.

They heard the faint sound of a car or two leaving the garage, but nobody came close to them and other than that, it took an agonizingly silent couple of minutes for police sirens to fill the air and another minute for the garage to start buzzing with the activity of not just their team members but also other police officers.

They taped off the scene. It was starting to get dark and the garage lights did little to properly illuminate Andy's car and the area surrounding it, so a couple of officers set up extra lights around it. Buzz was already circling the space, making sure everything was properly recorded. Nolan was taking witness statements in hopes of finding someone who had seen something, while Mike was busy with Andy's car in search for clues.

Julio took Andy's statement, while Amy talked to Provenza to get his.

Andy had quite calmly answered all of Julio's questions, silently reminding himself that it was simply procedure, all questions he'd have asked had it been any other case. But when Julio, in his usual calm and quiet manner asked, "Do you think she had any reason to leave?" whatever grip on his temper Andy had until then, suddenly disappeared.

"What kind of question is that?" he yelled at the younger detective. "We're supposed to get married on Friday!"

"I know, Sir, b-" Julio tried.

"No, you don't know!" Andy went on, his shouting not abating in the least even though it started drawing curious looks from officers whose names he neither knew nor much cared for at the moment. "Something bad happened! That blood was not there when I last saw her!" He pointed a finger at his car. "And she wouldn't have left for any reason! And even if she would leave _me_ , she'd never leave Emily, Ricky or Rusty! Not without telling anyone!" He was in Julio's face by the end of his little tirade, but he cared about that even less.

"Flynn!" Provenza called out sharply.

"What?" Andy whirled around to glare angrily at him. He stood in front of an improvised table a parking spot away from his car, Amy no longer with him. "It's a stupid ass question and you know it!"

"Shut up and get your ass over here," Provenza ordered, waving a hand at Mike, who stood next to him. "What's the Captain's blood type?" he asked, when Andy finally stomped his way over to them.

The question instantly deflated Andy. "Huh?" he asked.

Provenza rolled his eyes, "I said, what's the Captain's blood type? Do you know it or do I need to look it up?"

"AB positive," Andy answered, looking at Mike, holding a small white card in his hand. "Why?"

"Well," Provenza started, clearly not amused by Andy's earlier outburst, "while you were busy biting Julio's head off for no reason, Mike was actually doing something useful."

Andy shot him another angry glare, but Mike quickly intervened. "EldonCard," he pointed at the card. "Just give me a minute," he said, looking expectantly at it.

"AB positive's a pretty rare blood type, right?" Julio said, making Andy jump slightly, not having noticed Julio had followed him.

"Yeah," Mike confirmed. "There are actually only around 3-"

"Please, spare us the trivia, Tao," Provenza groaned.

"Just tell me if it's her blood, Mike," Andy added, eagerly watching the four red dotted smears on the little card.

"No," Mike finally said, shaking his head, before looking up at Andy. "This is A negative, it's not the Captain's blood."

Andy let out a huge sigh of relief. "So if we're thinking kidnapping," he started, doing his best to think rationally.

"That might be our kidnapper's blood," Provenza finished for him.

"The Captain would have put up a fight," Julio added in a low, confident voice.

Andy nodded, proudly. "She would have," he agreed.

"Lieutenant," Buzz suddenly said, walking over to them, carrying a laptop.

All three Lieutenants turned to look at him and, briefly puzzled, he added, "Flynn," before continuing. "I just tried pinging the Captain's phone," he tilted the laptop slightly. " _Your_ address pops up, Lieutenant."

"What?" Andy said. "How would she get home without me? We took my car!"

"And why does she not pick up?" Buzz added. "I tried calling, too," he explained at Provenza's questioning look.

"She always picks up," Andy mumbled, his mind racing in search of a logical explanation.

"And even if she doesn't, she always lets us know how to reach her," Provenza added, frowning as he, too, probably searched his thoughts for a plausible explanation.

"There's nothing more to do here, right?" Andy suddenly asked, giving all three men around him a look.

"Taking the car to the print shed," Mike answered. Officially, he was in charge at the moment. "Witness statements are being wrapped up and we'll take a look at the security tapes back at HQ."

Instantly, Andy started digging through his pockets for his car keys. Realizing he not only didn't have them at the moment, but probably wouldn't get them back for a while either, he turned to Julio. "I need a ride home," he told him.

Julio curtly nodded, already making his way toward his car, when Provenza, sounding quite offended, said, "I can give you a ride." It made Julio stop and turn around to look at him.

"No," Andy immediately disagreed, giving Patrice a quick look. She was standing outside the line, leaned against her own car, glancing over at them periodically. He found Amy, too. She was walking towards Patrice. "You've had a concussion. You're not even supposed to be here."

"Neither are you," Provenza retorted. "Family members don't investigate family."

"I'm not family," Andy said. "Not yet. Not officially," he added. "And I'm only going home," he told his partner on a sly smirk.

"That's crap and you know it!" Provenza shouted the words.

It was true, Sharon would not like it either. The easiest thing would have been to just send a couple of uniforms to check their house out, but somehow, they were all in silent agreement that one of them ought to do it instead.

However, whether Sharon would like it or not meant very little to Andy right now. And it was not like she never bent those particular rules herself. All that mattered to him right now was finding out where on earth she disappeared to. Besides, apart from being at the scene, he had not partaken in collecting any of the evidence. That he wouldn't dare, not if any of his actions could later jeopardize their case. If there even was one; he still held out hope that somehow, Sharon had gone home, despite it not making sense one bit.

Mike intervened again. "Andy's right. You've had a concussion, Lieutenant." The team had been filled in on Provenza's episode when they first arrived. "Stay overnight, and if," at Provenza's angry glare, he corrected himself, " _when_ the doctor clears you, you know where to find us."

"I can't worry about you collapsing again right now," Andy told him, a plea entering his tone of voice. He pinned his partner with a hard look, too.

For a moment Provenza stared back at him defiantly, but then finally relenting, mumbled, "Fine."

"Lieutenant Provenza," Amy said, walking over to him, Patrice in tow, as if on cue.

Provenza waved a hand at the both of them. "Don't," he bit out then looked at Patrice, annoyed. "I'm coming, I'm going back to my room, alright?"

He pointed a finger at the now four of them, ignoring his wife's surprised look, and warned, "But the moment you know something you tell me, is that understood?"

"Yes, Sir," Buzz said.

Mike and Amy nodded, even though Amy looked slightly puzzled, having not witnessed their little dispute earlier.

Andy turned to Mike and heatedly said, "Same goes for me, you find something, you call me right that instant!"

"We will, Andy," Mike assured him.

Andy then curtly nodded at Julio and the two finally made their way to his car.

...

"Could she really have gone home?" Andy asked Julio when he finally pointed the car to his and Sharon's house.

"I don't know, Sir," Julio told him honestly. "I really hope so," he added, giving Andy a quick look.

With that, they lapsed into a tense silence.

Briefly, Andy cursed himself for not letting Provenza drive him, concussion be damned. His partner would have probably been full of quite annoying ideas, opinions and advice, but at least he would not be sitting in this deafening silence. At least he would have kept him occupied.

However, this way, the only thing to occupy Andy was his own mind. And his mind, at the moment, was a terrible place to be in.

One of the first things that popped into it was that Sharon can't have been at home. How would she have gotten there? A cab? A bus? If she was at home, why would she go without him in the first place? And if she had a good reason for that, why on earth was she not answering his calls? His conclusion: _she was not there_.

Then he thought about a possibly good reason for her being there after all. The only one that came to mind were her children. Only for them would she immediately drop everything. And, although he found it doubtful that even then she would have forgotten to let him know where she had gone, suddenly he saw hope. Only because of them, did he find her being unreachable like this, possible.

Her children. She'd do anything for them. He would, too. For both his and hers. That brought another thought about. "Oh, my God, I have to call the kids."

He did not even notice the words escaped him out loudly until Julio replied, "Not if she's at home."

Andy only nodded, hoping against hope again that maybe she _was_ at home.

Which was difficult to do with the image of the blood next to his car flashing across his mind, with the sound of her voice whenever every single phone call he made to her since fetching his jacket went to voicemail, with the fact that Sharon just suddenly disappearing and apparantly going radio-silent was so incredibly out of character.

But he had to hope. Because facing the alternative had him fight for breath.

He let out an involuntary gasp when his mind went to the alternative anyway.

"Sir?" Julio asked carefully, but Andy just swallowed and waved him off.

The alternative was that she had been kidnapped and was now held somewhere against her will. And that was the best case scenario. When the worst case scenario popped into his head, it was accompanied by images his mind found only too easy conjuring (not surprising with his line of work).

He dug the fingers of his right hand into his thigh, trying to focus on another type of pain than the one brought about by the mere idea of losing her. It didn't work. He still imagined her. Gone. Hurt. Scared. Lost. Taken from him. Killed. Dead.

No. He shook his head, trying to chase the dreadful images away.

That didn't work either.

Suddenly, he unbuckled his seatbelt and pushed his seat as far back as it could go. He felt caged up, like the air was being sucked out of the interior of the car. He thought he might throw up, too. He needed space. "Stop the car!" he yelled.

By the time Julio could react and pull over, Andy was taking shallow breaths, failing more than he was succeeding at pushing air into his lungs. The moment the car got to a stop, Andy escaped it, bending down a few steps away from it, hands on his knees as he tried to calm himself down.

Julio got out of the car as well, rounding it quickly. When he reached, he put a hand on top of his shoulder. "Don't panic yet, Sir," he told him, pointlessly.

"I can't," Andy managed to get in between only slightly deeper breaths.

"We get you home, Sir," Julio said, not a trace of Andy's obvious agitation in his voice. "Maybe she's there, maybe there's a logical explanation to this."

At that Andy looked up, still not really able to take a breath, and the pressure in his chest certainly did not help, bu he spoke, his voice loud and painfully clear, "What if she's not?"

Julio's jaw clenched at the question and he briefly looked away, but when he set his eyes back on Andy, he pinned him with a hard, determined look. "Then we find her," he said simply.

Even though Julio could not guarantee that and even if he could, he still couldn't decide in which state they would find her in that case, Andy nodded in response. He took, first a shuddering breath, then another, deeper, steadier one. "We find her," Andy repeated, straightening up, taking another deep breath before walking back to the car.

Taking his hint, Julio got to his feet, went back to his seat and got them moving again.

...

"No lights," Julio muttered as he parked the car in Andy's driveway.

Andy just took a long breath in response. He was out of the car before Julio even properly stopped the car.

His training, however, kicked in and he did not attempt entering the house before the detective caught up with him.

They exchanged a brief, reassuring nod, then Andy turned the door handle. "Locked," he let out, putting his key into the keyhole already.

He unlocked the door and was about to open it, when Julio suddenly put a hand on his arm. "Let me," Julio said, taking his gun out of its holster. "Just in case," he added.

Andy moved aside, his own gun having been left in its box in the house, and let Julio fling the door open.

 **TBC**


	4. Chapter 4 - Where's Mom?

**Chapter 4 - Where's Mom?**

Julio barged into the house, Andy behind him punching the lights to life. He only managed to check the hallway and living room when he heard a loud thump.

He turned around to see Andy's fist on top of the commode to his right. He must have hit it in his anger. "What is it, Lieutenant?" he asked.

Andy picked something up from the commode and waved it at Julio. It was Sharon's phone. "I know why it pinged here," he said dejectedly. "We didn't notice then, but when Patrice called," Andy shook his head, "she put her phone down before telling me about Provenza." He slammed the phone down on the commode. "She must have forgotten it in our hurry to Cedars." The memory flashed across his memory now as clear as day. "How the hell didn't I remember? We could have saved ourselves the trip!" he added angrily, this time kicking the piece of furniture in front of him.

"Sir," Julio said, taking a step toward Andy, "I think you should jus-"

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down," Andy bit out venomously, glaring angrily at Julio and pointing a finger at him. He then took a step back, hitting the still open frame of their front door. "Don't you dare, Julio," he reiterated more quietly.

"I won't then," Julio told him, not in the least bit upset with Andy's outburst. "I'll just," he added, reaching into his pocket for his phone, "call it in then."

Andy suddenly, quite gently actually, took Sharon's phone again. He pressed a button to light up the screen. There were a dozen missed calls from him alone and a few more from each of the team members. "Where is she?" he asked quietly, giving Julio a desperate look.

Julio already had his phone pressed to his ear. "We'll find her, Sir," he tried to assure him, his now clenched jaw finally giving away his own concern.

...

Within half an hour, the house was swarming with officers. After Julio called Mike, him and Buzz were the first ones to make it to the house.

If it was a kidnapping, a ransom demand was a possibility and they immediately started setting everything up for recording and tracing any incoming calls to the landline.

While they were at it, Andy had taken a moment to finally call Rusty. Ricky was at Emily's in New York and was supposed to make the trip to LA with her on Wednesday for the wedding, so both of them were in a later time zone, meaning that it was nearly 3 am there, and they were most certainly fast asleep. That's why Andy decided against calling them. For now.

The call with Rusty was a strange one. Andy had asked him to come home and to bring Gus, too. That, of course, instantly sent Rusty into panic mode, but after telling a white lie and assuring him it was nothing serious and that he should just get back as soon as possible, somehow he managed to calm him down enough to finally promise to be there within half an hour.

When he was there in 20 minutes, Andy knew he was nowhere close to being calm, but it didn't matter, he wasn't either, and he was glad he went out onto the porch to wait for him. He felt trapped inside the house with nowhere to go until he dealt with Rusty anyway.

Gus barely got the car to a stop, when Rusty already flung the passenger door open, a wide-eyed look on his face. The police cars, Mike's and Buzz's cars, and all the flashing lights a clear indicator for him that the reason he got called back home was definitely not 'nothing serious'.

"Oh, my God, Andy," Rusty said the instant his eyes fell on him. "What happened?" he asked worriedly, looking around the house first then into it through the window. "Where's mom?" he asked, panic in his voice now.

"Come on," Andy waved a hand in front of him, then led the way into the house.

"Andy, what is going on?" Rusty asked, when he realized who was in their living room, but still followed Andy when he just walked down the hall and into Rusty's room. Equally worried, Gus went after them, albeit in silence.

When they got in, Andy closed the door behind them. "Sit down," he told Rusty, and although for a moment, he looked like he would argue, when Gus tugged on his arm to get him to oblige Andy's request, he sat down on his bed without protest. Gus joined him.

"Where's mom? What happened? What are Buzz and Mike doing there?" Rusty asked waving a hand in the general direction of their living room.

"I don't know," Andy told both of them, taking a few steps towards Rusty's desk, pulling out a chair and dropping into it, facing the two young men.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Rusty said angrily.

Andy looked at him. "Provenza had a little accident and Sharon an-"

"Oh, my God," Rusty interrupted, shocked. "What hap-"

Andy waved him off. "He's fine, it was nothing," he assured him. "But Sharon and I went to Cedars to check up on him."

He fell silent. How the hell do you tell a kid that you lost his mother?

"So?" Rusty asked, the bouncing of his leg up and down, a tell-tale sign that he was losing his patience.

"When we started going home, I realized I forgot my jacket, and went back to get it," Andy finally said. "Sharon waited for me in the garage, and I was gone 10 minutes tops, had to go to Lost & Found to get it," he shook his head, knowing that wasn't the information Rusty needed, "and when I got back, she was gone."

"What do you mean, 'gone'?" Rusty asked, frowning and leaping to his feet to go through his pockets. "Did you try calling her? She wouldn't ju-"

"Rusty," Andy got up to, putting a hand on his arm, trying to get him to stop pacing. It didn't work, and Rusty still dialed her number, too, but Andy went on anyway. "She won't pick up, she left her phone here."

That finally made Rusty stop and look at him again. "So what are you trying to tell me?" Rusty actually scoffed. "That she's been kidnapped?"

When Andy just stayed quiet, not having the heart to flat out confirm that to the kid and not being able to say much past the sudden lump at the back of his throat again either, Rusty's eyes widened and he gave Gus a brief look of disbelief, who looked just as worried as Rusty now, then settled his gaze on Andy again.

"Oh, my God," he let out panicky, suddenly sounding like the teenager Sharon first took in almost 6 years ago. "That can't be right," he told Andy. "I mean, it's Sharon. She's just, she-

"I know, kid," Andy swallowed and interrupted his desperate ramblings. "I know," he put a hand on Rusty's shoulder this time. When Rusty didn't shrug it off, Andy squeezed it and gave him a long, hard look. "We will find her," he told him, sounding much more confident than he felt at the moment. "We think she put up a fight in the garage, we know she's gonna continue doing so." When Rusty just barely nodded, tears forming in his eyes now, Andy added, "And we'll keep on looking for her _until_ we find her, okay?" Rusty offered no reaction so Andy reiterated his earlier words, through gritted teeth this time, "We _will_ find her."

Suddenly Rusty said, looking even more alarmed than a second ago, "Do you think it's Stroh?" By the look of him, he hadn't given that particular name a thought in a long time.

Andy had mentally gone through a possible list of suspects while waiting on Mike and Buzz with Julio. Stroh was on it, of course, along with all the people Sharon helped put behind bars, the police officers who may have felt slighted over a decision of hers while she was in IA, even Rusty's biological father made his list.

"Anything's possible," Andy told him, deciding sugarcoating things wouldn't help matters. "The team and I are all over it already, but we've only just started the search. As a matter of fact, we plan on getting to the hospital security tapes next."

"How can I help?" Rusty instantly asked.

Andy gave Gus a quick look. He had kept quiet the entire time, but at Andy's look, he finally spoke. "I think we should stay here, there's n-"

"What?" Rusty suddenly shouted, whirling around on his boyfriend. "How can you even think something like that?" His voice only became louder and he tapped a finger against his temple as if to highlight the absurdity of his suggestion.

"Rusty," Andy tried, but Rusty only went on with his frustrations.

"That's my mom we're talking about." He looked at Andy and continued equally loudly, "I can't just sit around and do nothing!"

"There's not m-" Andy started but the sudden knock on the door, followed by it immediately getting opened, interrupted him.

"Yes, you can." Rusty's shouts must have carried even through the closed door. It was acting Assistant Chief Howard who said the words. Andy had no idea when he had arrived or _why_ he even came to the house instead of the murder room, but he had no time to dwell on those questions because Howard gave Rusty a look, and then pinned Andy with one, too. "Both of you can."

It was Andy's turn to fly off the handle. "What the hell are you-" he yelled out.

"The Captain's your fiancee," Howard plowed on, not the least bit fazed by Andy's outburst. "You're too close to this, Andy."

Andy's entire features darkened, the frown settling on it and the way his eyes narrowed at the man in front of him, a clear sign that those were not words he appreciated hearing. When he spoke, it was through gritted teeth and a clenched jaw. "You will not take me off this case."

"It's bad enough I'm letting your division take lead on this," Howard told him, taking a step further into the room and closing the door behind him.

"I am not staying here," Andy bit out, folding his arms across his chest defiantly.

"Yes, you are, that's an order," Howard commanded, judging by the frown that settled on his face now, his own calm slowly slipping away.

"Look," Andy took a step closer to him. "You can take me off the case officially, but do you really think I'll just stay at home and twiddle my thumbs while you look for her?" Suddenly he spoke completely calmly, albeit in a somewhat threatening tone of voice.

Howard's eyebrows shot up, the possibility clearly not having crossed his mind until then, but Andy didn't give him the chance to offer an answer. "Do you really need a rogue police officer on your hands when you're missing a Captain?"

Howard pointed a finger at him in warning, "I can suspend you though."

Andy only quirked an unimpressed eyebrow at him, the threat seemingly not worrying him one bit.

Finally, Howard said, "Fine. But Lieutenant Tao is in charge, at least until Provenza's back, is that understood?" He punctuated his words with another pointed finger.

"Fine," Andy immediately agreed.

"You, however," Howard pointed his finger at Rusty now, (he and Gus were silently watching the heated exchange from the sidelines), " _will_ stay here."

"But-"

"No buts," Howard barely let him finish the word. "You are to stay here and stay put in case-" he shook his head then amended his thought, "and stay put until we have more information."

"I can stay put in her office just as well," Rusty barked back, mirroring Andy's earlier defiant position by crossing his own arms.

"Rusty," Andy suddenly said. He knew what Howard wanted to say and it was one of the reasons why he, too, needed Rusty to stay at home. "If Sharon's been kidnapped, and it sure looks that way," he paused. How the hell was he supposed to tell the kid this without sending him into even more of a panic?

Howard, however, decided to just cut to the chase. "Rusty, there may be a ransom demand."

Rusty's eyes went wide again and Andy thought he visibly paled. He opened his mouth to say something, but then, not finding the proper words, promptly shut it again. Andy could see that Gus swallowed hard, too.

"I'm of more use at work," Andy gave Howard a pointed look, "than here. And someone needs to stay here in case a ransom demand is made."

Andy expected Rusty to put up more of a fight, but he suddenly deflated and simply said, "Okay."

Andy's eyebrows shot up, but, deciding not to question it, repeated the word in confirmation, "Okay."

"I'll let Mike know," Howard told them, then left the room.

"I'll be right back," Andy told Rusty and Gus and made to follow Howard, but at Rusty's quiet, "Andy," he turned around. His voice sounded so broken it broke Andy's heart a little, too.

"Yeah?" Andy answered gruffly.

"She told me once," he started, not meeting Andy's gaze, but stopped and bit his lower lip, clearly fighting for composure.

"Told you what?" Andy asked, the soft tone of his voice not something even Andy himself was used to.

"That if I ever got lost," Rusty finally met Andy's eyes, "she would look for me _and_ find me."

Andy actually managed to offer a small smile. "Yeah, she would," he told him, voice now thick with emotion.

"I'll stay," Rusty agreed to Andy's request once more, "but you need to-"

Andy put a hand up to stop him. He swallowed and said, "Oh, I'm gonna look for her." He pinned Rusty with a determined look, not even surprised that his vision was getting clouded as his eyes filled with tears. "And I'm most definitely gonna _find_ her."

Rusty took a shuddering breath and nodded. "Okay," he managed to say.

 **TBC**

* * *

Was this last bit over the top? *grimaces*


	5. Chapter 5 - What happened?

**Chapter 5 - What happened?**

They left Rusty and Gus at the house with Julio and a few uniformed officers. Rusty seemed to have preferred Buzz to stay with him over Julio, but what nobody told him was, that the team worried that, if Stroh or his biological father was behind this, Rusty might be in danger, too. So until they knew more, they assigned Julio as his personal bodyguard.

Andy had taken Sharon's car to the murder room, since his had been towed away to the print shed. Mike joined him on the ride, letting Buzz drive back on his own. Andy knew they were babysitting him, but he really lacked the energy to fight them on it. Not when he tried focusing all of it on figuring out where Sharon was.

The first order of business was getting a look at the hospital security footage. So, the moment they entered the murder room, Buzz and Mike had gone to pull it up.

They found Nolan already on the phone to get the media involved. Andy had initially fought that particular course of action, when Tao told him about it, since he was yet to call Ricky and Emily, or his own kids for that matter, but given the time of day and their location he ultimately gave in. He'd get hold of them the moment the sun came up in New York.

Amy was at her desk as well, checking out all known databases for possible clues regarding modus operandi and the likes.

Howard, who had left the house only minutes before Mike, Andy and Buzz, was nowhere to be seen. However, he had left with promises to provide them with as many officers as necessary for any of the additional legwork they may need. He had actually arrived at the house earlier for one simple reason - when a police Captain goes missing it is the duty of the Assistant Chief to get involved, especially when the Chief of Police is out of state on business. Of course, Andy knew Howard counted Sharon among his friends and would certainly _like_ to help, too, but he also suspected there was more to his visit than he let on, but decided that, whatever it was, it couldn't be worse than the fact that Sharon had gone missing in the first place.

Andy himself had wanted to follow Buzz and Mike into the media room, but Mike insisted he made his way to the murder board instead. Being the one to actually have lived it, he should map out the timeline of his and Sharon's day first. The moment they had the tape ready he promised to call for him. That calmed Andy somewhat down, but the urge to bite both their heads off for walking on eggshells around him was slowly starting to rear its ugly head.

When he was more or less finished with the timeline, Andy took a glance at his watch and frowned. It did not take so long to fast forward a damn security tape. He put the marker he was using to write on the board rather forcefully down on the first desk he reached and made his way into the media room. He ignored the surprised looks from Amy and Nolan, who were still seated behind their desks.

"Whatever's on that tape, you better show it to me," he told Buzz and Mike quite calmly, even if he stormed into the room.

"Erm, Andy," Mike started carefully, exchanging a quick, concerned look with Buzz seated next to him, "Are you sure you want to see this?" He tilted his head at the screens in front of him.

What little calm Andy projected a second ago now vanished. "You already saw it?" He practically spat the question out.

But Mike didn't flinch, if anything, he actually seemed quite certain of his indirect suggestion. "The Captain is your f-"

"If one more person tells me she's my fiancee," Andy started, angrily taking a few steps until he stood behind Mike, "I swear to God, I'm gonna shoot somebody."

"She is though," Mike reiterated, not heeding his warning, "and I think maybe you shouldn't-"

Suddenly Andy felt as if his heart dropped into his stomach. He pinned Mike with a worried, almost panicked look. The screens were black, clearly turned off on purpose. "She isn't, I mean, she wasn't... God!" Andy couldn't even put the question together.

"No," Mike instantly replied, realizing where Andy's thoughts had went. "No," he repeated more firmly, "the Captain's alive."

"But it is upsetting, Lieutenant," Buzz told him.

"I don't give a damn, I'm already upset," Andy bit out, leaning now against the desk between the two. "Show me what happened!"

Buzz quietly sought out Mike's permission and, when he sighed but nodded, he switched the monitors on, found the right time stamp and pressed play.

The camera was positioned in such a way that it offered a view of the passenger side of the car. They could clearly see Sharon digging through her purse.

"She couldn't find my keys," Andy unnecessarily explained, since he'd already said as much in his statement.

Buzz and Mike only nodded, eyes glued to the screen.

Andy smiled to himself when he saw Sharon laughing to herself. There was no sound, and he was out of the frame but he could guess what had her laughing. He suddenly wished he'd have noticed it earlier. When he suddenly wondered when he heard or saw her laugh last, and he couldn't pinpoint an exact moment, he swallowed hard and took a deep, steadying breath. He had to remind himself that there was no use in thinking that way. He would see and hear her laugh again. He had to.

If Buzz and Mike noticed, they did not react to him. And just as Sharon had been finally left alone at the car, Amy and Nolan entered the room. At Buzz's guarded look, they simply, quietly joined them behind the screens.

Sharon stood at the car for maybe a minute, when at last, a tall, dark-haired person approached her. If they had to guess, he was about Nolan's height, but slightly more muscular. They couldn't see his face, his back was turned to the camera. Not a single other soul seemed to be in their vicinity either. At his arrival Andy straightened up and squared his shoulders. Buzz and Mike exchanged another set of worried looks.

At first, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Whatever they talked about did not put Sharon on edge or anything. It looked like the man was simply asking for directions or something, at least judging by the way Sharon gestured behind her with her hands. Then the man nodded and held out a hand, seemingly in thanks. When Sharon, looking somewhat surprised, took his offered hand, the man put his other one on top of it, as if to give it a heartfelt shake.

That's when things escalated.

The man, clearly catching Sharon off guard, suddenly violently jerked her and her arm forwards. It was probably a good thing that there was no sound, because judging by the pained grimace that crossed Sharon's face, the man injured her shoulder and she had yelled out in pain.

Andy clutched the back of Mike's and Buzz's chairs but kept his focus on the screens. He only faintly registered the looks exchanged over his head between the two detectives on each of his sides.

The movement lurched Sharon directly into the man, but her instincts and training seemed to immediately kick in because she balled her left fist, and somewhat clumsily, since her purse slipped off her other shoulder down to the crook of her elbow, hit her assailant square in what was probably his nose (at the angle they still couldn't see his face).

The man actually lost his balance for a second, but when Sharon made a move to punch him again, her purse now having dropped to the floor, he managed to block it with his arm, using the opportunity to twist her already injured shoulder once more and forcefully turn her around. Andy winced, mentally feeling the pain that must have shot through Sharon's shoulder, but saw that it wasn't exactly a smart move on her attacker's part, because Sharon used the opportunity to elbow him in the ribs and dig her heel into his sneaker covered foot. The man looked upwards probably in the process of letting out a painful shout, and Andy barely registered the brief feeling of pride at the well placed hits, when her attacker somehow still managed to reach into his pocket and pull out a taser gun.

Sharon had at the same time turned around again and was in the middle of pushing her knee up, possibly to kick him in his groin, but before she could, his gun went off, hitting Sharon into her throat no less, and shocking her. The man had excellent reflexes, because, before Sharon could hit the ground, the feeling in her legs clearly leaving her, he had his arms around her, and now barely conscious, lifted her and threw her over his shoulder.

Andy took a step back as if that would make what he was seeing any less real. He accidentally brushed against Amy's shoulder, but he didn't notice the understanding look she threw him because, even though every fiber in him screamed at him to just look away, he could not tear his eyes away from the rest of the scene.

He saw Sharon feebly trying to fight the man off once more, as she attempted to push herself off him, but then suddenly went limp, completely losing consciousness after all. With that, Andy felt bile rise up his throat. He saw the man wipe off his face, which probably meant what little blood they found was actually from Sharon's earlier punch, bend down to pick up her purse, and within a few steps, the man, now slightly limping, too, vanished out of the field of the camera's view, Sharon still in his hold.

That was all Andy could take. At the back of his mind he probably knew he ought to keep watching, perhaps the man would enter the field of view again, perhaps they'd see a getaway car or his face. They should also check out other camera angles, it wasn't the only one in the garage. But the moment Sharon disappeared from the screen, Andy practically ran past Amy, not caring that he basically shoved her out of his way, and escaped the media room.

Mike immediately pushed off his chair and went after him. "Let me," was all he offered the remaining three people in the room on his way out.

He found Andy leaning against the sink in the men's room, wiping the corner of his mouth and letting the water run. Andy met his worried look in the mirror and shook his head. "He didn't kill her," he said quietly, insecurely. He didn't dare voice another more dreadful thought; _not yet, not that they could see._

"She put up a fight. If it weren't for that punch, we wouldn't have his blood," Mike told him, not making any attempt at approaching Andy. Instead he remained stood in front of the door.

"She did," Andy confirmed, nodding, his eyes set on his own reflection now, but he barely saw himself. If he did, he would notice and know that Mike's concerned look was not just because of his missing Captain, but because Andy looked so pale he probably expected him to keel over at any moment. "That son of a bitch," Andy muttered angrily, as the images of Sharon getting hurt repeated themselves as if on a loop in his mind. "Coward, using a taser! And picking on someone half his size!" he angrily slammed a fist onto the tap to turn the water off.

Mike took a breath and when he spoke again, there was a bit of hesitation in his voice. With good reason, because the moment he started with a careful "Andy," Andy pinned him with an irritated look. He said nothing though, so Mike simply went on. "It's 2 am."

At that Andy did say something. "I am not going home." He turned around and focused his frown on Mike. "We need to check out the rest of those tapes, other angles, maybe we can get a look at his face." Suddenly the police officer in him remembered how these things were usually handled.

"We need to, yes," Mike did not disagree. "Maybe we'll find a car or van or something, too," he added.

"Exactly," Andy nodded, his frown disappearing to let a glimmer of hope make its appearance on his face. "Maybe we get lucky."

"You should still go home," Mike tried again, and when Andy geared up for protest he put a hand up. "Get some rest, Andy. See Rusty. You need to call the Captain's other two kids, too."

"I will," Andy mumbled. "In the morning," he clarified, a touch of finality in the words.

"Look," Mike suddenly seemed to have decided to change his approach, "stay long enough to quickly map out where the Captain, with or without you, went to, besides work, in the past few weeks. Just give me a list with times and places you remember."

Andy narrowed his eyes, "Yes?"

They had discussed this on the drive over. Even though their visit to Cedars was unexpected, there was still the possibility that, if the kidnapping wasn't random (and they still could not tell whether it was or wasn't), Sharon was being followed. The fact that no ransom demand had yet been made spoke against that theory, but they needed to make sure.

"And then go home and try to get some shut eye," Mike told him simply.

"No, I need to look for her, Mike." A note of panic entered Andy's voice.

Mike took a step and put a hand on Andy's shoulder. "I know, Andy," he told him, nothing but sympathy and understanding in his words, "but you also need to get some rest. We all need to. I will go through your list and try to get security tapes of the places you mention on it." He squeezed Andy's shoulder. "Buzz'll stay and check out the rest of the hospital's footage. If we find something, I promise to call you right away."

"It'll go faster if-"

"No, Andy, go home to Rusty. I'm sure he's worried sick. Relieve Julio for the night," Mike wouldn't let him finish. "And frankly, Andy, you look like you're just about to drop. You're no good to the Captain if you, too, collapse."

"What about Sykes and Nolan?" Andy asked, the fight in him somewhat abating, even though he still felt irritated at the fact that Tao held his heart attack over his head all of the sudden.

"They'll bunk here when necessary," Mike shrugged, letting go of Andy's shoulder. "At least one of us will always stay here, we'll just take turns, Andy," he added, trying to assure him one more time.

"Provenza's getting back tomorrow, too," Andy said, finally _really_ considering Mike's suggestion.

"Yeah, he is," Mike confirmed, nodding.

"You will not keep me out of the loop?" Andy asked, slight warning in his tone of voice now. He knew he would not be sent home if it was just another random case of theirs. He had to make sure they were not trying to keep him in the dark on purpose.

"No, trust me," Mike assured him. "We just need to manage our resources and energy, in case-"

"We don't find her right away," Andy finished for him.

Mike sighed. "Just taking turns on the watch," Mike told him on a small smile.

"Fi-"

The restroom door suddenly flung open, nearly hitting Mike's turned back, Nolan stepping through it. "Uh, sorry to interrupt," he said awkwardly, "but Amy found something."

Both Mike's and Andy's eyebrows shot up and they all but ran back to the murder room.

"What is it, Sykes," Andy hurriedly asked, barely having entered the room.

"Uh," she gave Mike a quick look, but then seemed to collect herself, "I ran this through ViCAP," she looked at her screen and waved a hand through the air absentmindedly, "you know, the m.o., kidnapping, garage, taser, victim description-"

"Would you just get to the point?" Andy angrily interrupted her, leaning against her desk now to take a look at the screen.

Before he could read much of what was on it, she got to the point, "FBI's got an open case. 3 similar kidnappings across two states." She looked at Andy. "The victims' descriptions are similar to the Captain's, Sir."

Andy, however, having been scanning through the information displayed on her screen, only barely registered her words. Instead, he let out in a strained voice, "All three found dead."

 **TBC**

* * *

I know, I know, it's not much of a kidnapping scene. I really didn't want to resort to anything overly dramatic, so I tried to make something _less_ dramatic plausible enough. Feel free to tell me your verdict on it. Oh, and I hope you like my ending to the chapter. ;)


	6. Chapter 6 - A Briefing

Here's a long chapter. It had to be since I'm trying hard to cover as many plot holes as I can think of. Also, it's nothing as spectacular as you might have expected. XD

* * *

 **Chapter 6 - A Briefing**

Amy's discovery managed to raise the already impossibly high levels of worry for their Captain even higher.

"Get the FBI's ass over here!"

Surprisingly, Andy was the first to snap out of the stupor the new information temporarily sent them all into. It was him who practically barked the order.

It got Nolan moving and he immediately found his phone and started dialing. The FBI would be alerted to their search, but they would not wait for them to answer the alert on their own.

"I'll go get Howard," Mike said. "He said he'd be in his office," he added and walked out of the murder room.

"What now?" Amy asked Andy.

He had stepped away from her desk and leaned against Provenza's, folding his arms in the process. He stared the murder board down, Sharon's picture in the middle of it his point of focus.

He felt hollow all of a sudden. He was certainly worried, terrified, frustrated, but he also felt oddly calm. "Now," he kept his eyes on Sharon's picture, "we wait."

Amy's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but she nodded and waited patiently for Nolan to get through to the FBI. In the middle of the night, he was actually put on hold and had therefore, started impatiently pacing the floor in front of Sharon's office.

Andy zoned them out, the frightening word 'dead' stealing all of his attention. Serial kidnapping turned into serial murder. Across state borders at that. Suspect still at large.

What suspect though? He had read absolutely nothing about a possible suspect on Amy's computer. What use will the FBI be if they had no clue about who the guy could be?

Desperation slowly entered his mind, with it his calmness disappeared, and briefly he worried he would have another panic attack. But he focused on Sharon's picture again and managed to actually take a proper breath. He felt his lips curve upwards into a small crooked smile on their own volition as he took her picture in. It was a picture of her in uniform. A dark police hat on top of her head, her shoulders covered in their equally dark police shirt, the collar on it showing off her rank. It was just a random photo he pulled off the records and printed out. He hadn't given it much thought when he stuck it to the board.

Now, however, it somehow offered hope. She was a cop. He knew she was a damn good shot, and judging by the video he watched earlier, she could throw punches, too. She would keep on fighting. _If_ she was alive, a small, far away part of his mind reminded him. He shook his head, as if to chase the thought away. She _was still_ alive. That was the premise he would operate under.

He felt a surge of anger rise in him at the injustice of it all. If the bastard hadn't had a taser on him, she could have taken him out maybe, despite the obvious height difference.

He suddenly jumped at the sound of his own fist hitting the top of Provenza's desk. He hadn't made the conscious decision to slam it.

It made Amy jump in her seat, too, and she let out a tentative, "Sir?"

Andy just waved her off on a frown and started walking to his own desk. He ought to start on that list of his anyway.

He had barely found a paper and a pen, when Mike returned, Howard in tow.

"FBI's sending someone over," Howard informed all of them.

Nolan stopped in his tracks and looked at him. He was in the middle of informing someone on the other end of his phone about their case. "Never mind," he said into his phone, and promptly ended the call.

At the questioning looks aimed at Howard, Mike spoke up. "Apparently there was an alert out, issued by the FBI, about the serial murderer on the loose, and Chief Howard," he waved a hand at the man next to him, "had already-"

"You already knew?" Andy got to his feet and walked up to Howard in three long strides to yell into his face. "And you didn't think about telling us?!"

Amy actually got to her feet and Nolan took a step forward, both worried that Andy might just start throwing punches at their assistant chief.

"I did not _know_ ," Howard said defensively, giving Amy and Nolan a pointed look, who in response relaxed somewhat and stayed put. "I only suspected. When I got back to the office, I ran a search of my own, then contacted the FBI."

That did little to simmer down Andy's riled up temper. "Unbelievable!" he let out, turning around and looking heavenward. "I have Rusty at home guarding a goddamn phone, and Julio guarding _him_ ," he turned around to face Howard again, "and you don't even bother to-"

"That's enough," Howard suddenly spat out. And it actually got Andy to snap his mouth shut. Now, taken aback, he just stared at Howard. "There was nothing _to tell_ you. I checked it out, called the FBI and, until they get their liaison over here, Rusty and Julio are to stay put anyway. As you should very well know, _Lieutenant._ " The inflection used on his rank had Andy frown at Howard, but he wasn't done yet and merely added, in quite a threatening tone of voice, "As you very well _would_ know, if you were thinking clearly. _If_ you weren't this close to all of this!"

The words had Andy take a step back, his frown still in place. "When are they getting here?" he asked angrily, but getting Howard's message loud and clear. He should either behave and remember his position or he just might end up suspended after all. He was right, too. Until the FBI gave them reason enough to believe this was related to their case, none of their current measures should be lifted. And even if they did give them reason enough, they might still stay in effect.

"In about half an hour," Howard answered in his usual tone of voice now.

Andy then shot a look at Mike. "I'm waiting then," he told him in a clipped manner, and before Mike could even think of arguing, added, "and after they brief us, I'll go home. I'll have to call Ricky and Emily by then anyway."

If Mike was surprised by Andy's suddenly rational decision, he hid it well. "Good." Deciding to change the topic, he then asked, "Have you started on your list?"

...

Half an hour later, the murder room was fairly quiet. Howard had retreated to his office, while Nolan and Amy were at their desks. Buzz was in the media room and Andy had just presented Mike, seated at his own desk, with the list he had asked for and started impatiently pacing in front of the murder board, already annoyed that it's been half an hour and nobody from the FBI was there yet.

He stopped suddenly, when he noticed Howard and FBI Special Agent Morris step into the murder room. He actually felt a bit of relief wash over him. Andy was no fan of the FBI but he was at least familiar with the agent they sent, having worked a few cases with him. He didn't need to like the man, but it certainly helped that Morris knew how his division worked. Also, Andy really would not have had the patience it took to break in another FBI agent at the moment.

Clearly recognizing that none of the team members was in the mood for niceties, Morris immediately jumped to the cause of his arrival.

He took a few steps towards Amy and handed her a thumb drive, holding on to the folder he had in his other hand. "Here's everything we have," he told her.

She nodded, mumbled a polite thank you and stuck the drive into her computer.

"Would you please brief Agent Morris on what we've got so far?" Howard asked, sweeping a look over the room, stopping when he reached Andy to give him a pointed look.

Andy had in the meantime leaned against Provenza's desk again and at Howard's look, rolled his eyes but obeyed, starting to rehash everything that had happened since he had realized that Sharon wasn't where she was supposed to be. When he, in the most succinct possible way, described the footage they saw, Mike finally chipped in.

"We haven't gone through all of it yet," he said, "but Buzz is working on it."

"Good," Morris said. "That's the first time he was caught on tape at all."

"So what do you know about the guy?" Andy asked.

"Let me start from the top," Morris said.

He opened his folder and pulled three pictures out of it, walking over to the murder board. He pinned them to the board on the little empty space left on it at its top right corner and said, "These are our victims so far."

He pressed a finger to each of the pictures telling them about the persons on them. "Jessica Miles, 58, last seen in a parking lot in Hurricane, Utah, found dead 5 days after going missing. Rhonda Jenkins, 54, last seen in a parking garage in St. George, Utah, found dead 5 days later. And Helen Sparks, 60, last seen in a parking garage in Phoenix, Arizona, found dead 5 days later, too."

He turned around to face the team. "And as you can see-"

"The dirtbag has a type," Andy finished for him in a menacing tone of voice. They all had the same hair color and cut, quite similar facial features, and none of them looked their age.

Morris gave him a grave look. "Exactly, and all victims had taser marks, bruises or sprains. Which seems consistent with what you saw on that security footage, about how he abducts them. And besides their looks, height's about the same, too, but we found no other connections between the victims. We believe he picks them out at random, snooping around parking lots and garages in hopes of getting lucky."

"How long in between the kidnappings?" Nolan asked. He was still behind his desk.

"The first two were a month apart. The next one happened two weeks later." He slanted Andy a look. "This time he waited only a week."

"So he's escalating," Mike said, shaking his head in worry.

"How come they were all found on the fifth day?" Amy asked, she was looking at her computer screen, going through the files Morris dumped on her on his drive.

"He leaves them in parks. On known trails," Morris explained.

"What the hell?" Andy let out, waving a hand through the air. "How did nobody see him then?"

"Probably does it at night, before sunrise," Morris shrugged.

Andy scoffed. "When you'll maybe find a junkie or a kid out partying too long," he muttered.

"We had one witness," Morris pointed out, giving the entire room a quick look. "He said he saw a guy, matching your guy's description, by the way," he gave Andy a pointed look, "walking away from a spot in the park. It was dark and he couldn't make out his face though, and the only reason why he even remembered him was because when he, a minute later, reached that part of the trail, he found our victim and called the police."

"How does he-" Andy started asking, but stopped himself, clenching his jaw tightly. It was not an image he really wanted to have planted in his head.

Mike ended the question for him, "Kill them?"

"Strangles them." It was Amy who answered, having apparently come across that particular detail on the thumb drive.

"Would you please forward that?" Mike asked, giving her a look from over his desk, before Morris could either confirm or deny her claim.

"Uh, sure," Amy said, already busy doing exactly that. "I'll send it to all of you," she added.

"He disposes of them neatly," Morris suddenly told them. "Wrapped up naked in a blanket, hands put carefully to their sides, legs stretched out. He even washes them before disposing of them."

"Kills them, then washes them? What a sick bastard," Andy muttered, giving Sharon's displayed picture another look. His earlier anger was starting to rear its ugly head again and he balled a hand into a fist in the hopes of calming himself down.

"Smart, too," Mike added, his focus on his computer. He was clearly reading through Amy's forwarded file. "No traces on the victims whatsoever."

"And what," Nolan suddenly said, walking up to the murder board, "he just carries them over to these trails and leaves no trace of himself on those blankets?" he asked pointing at Morris's displayed three victims.

"Hasn't yet," Morris confirmed, making Nolan shake his head in disbelief.

"On foot?" Andy asked, frowning.

"We suspect he's driving something," Morris said. "The parks were never close to the abduction points." He fished out three small scale maps out of his folder and attached them to the board. In each of the cities, the parks and parking places were circled, all quite a distance apart.

"So no way he carried them the entire distance," Andy muttered, still frowning as he took a look at the maps.

Morris scoffed. "He's fit alright, but not that fit."

"He's injured this time, though," Mike offered. "Captain got him good enough to have him limping," he added, rather proudly.

"And you haven't found any suspicious vehicles in the vicinity?" Andy asked, annoyed that somehow this guy seemed to have managed to avoid all usual ways of tracking him.

"Not near the abduction sites, nor the parks," Morris admitted begrudgingly. He shrugged, "The FBI only took over the case once it turned serial, we're backtracking the local police investigation, they hadn't found out what he was driving, and so far, neither have we. And I doubt we will. He might still be driving the same vehicle or-

"He's changed them from place to place," Nolan finished for him, frowning. That meant they could go through every single vehicle in those previous three cities and still maybe not find the one their suspect was driving at the moment or had been driving at the time of his previous killings, if he was driving one at all.

"Whatever he's driving, and it's probably a van, he knows how to avoid cameras, too," Morris added.

"He's going from smaller to bigger cities," Nolan said, his eyes focused on the murder board, clearly mulling over that particular fact. "I doubt there were many cameras in those first two cities to begin with. Phoenix though," he trailed off, not finding an explanation for that one.

"Lucky?" Andy tried sarcastically.

"And now he's come to LA, where there are plenty of them," Morris added, not answering Andy's remark. "He's escalating, clearly getting bolder," there was a touch of optimism in his voice now, "and that's starting to make him sloppy."

Ignoring his comment, Andy asked a question that only just then popped into his head. A question that replaced his anger with dread, "When did they die?"

Both Mike and Amy finally unglued their eyes from their respective computer screens, and before Morris could answer, Amy quickly responded, "The fourth day."

Andy let out an audible sigh of relief and closed his eyes briefly. "Thank God," he said, the words out on barely a whisper.

"You said sloppy?" Nolan asked Morris, giving Andy a moment to collect himself.

"Well, he did finally get caught on camera," Mike said matter-of-factly, giving their newest addition to the team a shrug.

"And I guess none of his victims so far were police officers?" Amy added, aiming the words at Morris.

"That's right," Morris agreed. He then pulled out a piece of paper out of his folder and waved it through the air. "And we also finally found the place he kept his last victim in. It's actually why it took me a while to get here."

Andy snatched the paper out of his hands and scanned it. "A motel?" he asked, sounding incredulous all of a sudden. "How could it have taken you this long to figure that out?" he shot Mike a look of utter disbelief.

"Nobody reported anything, not the guests, or the owner. He also chose a complete dump for a motel," Morris said, taking the piece of paper back from him. "Look it up if you will," he suggested to Mike, but he only continued listening to Morris intently. "No official web page and when we checked it out, all security cameras installed there were nothing but props. And he left no traces behind on the disposal sites for us to use and figure out where he kept them before disposing of them."

"So how'd you find it?" Amy asked, puzzled.

"A maid found an old newspaper with our victim's obituary in it. Recognized the woman and called us." He looked at his watch. "That was about 3 hours ago. They let us into their records without a warrant. Mostly Don Juans, Casanovas and the likes, so you know what kind of place it is. But one nickname stood out, The Würger. He rented out the room the maid saw the victim in."

"The Wurg-what?" Andy asked, frowning in confusion. "Why would that stand out?"

"Würger," Morris happily repeated. "It's German and it means The Strangler. His stay there fits our timeline and the maid's story."

"And this guy strangles his victims to death," Andy muttered over Morris's last sentence, his frown deepening at the irony of it.

"Aren't guests supposed to offer an ID though?" Amy asked. "I doubt his says _The Würger_ ," she added on an eye roll.

"Only if he paid in cash," Mike explained, then asked Morris, "Did he?"

"He paid in cash," Morris said, then added on a more annoyed note, "But not everybody follows the rules exactly."

"Especially owners of seedy motels," Andy muttered.

Morris only grimly nodded.

"How come the maid remembered the victim though?" Mike suddenly asked, a surprised eyebrow raised. "It says here," he turned his attention to his computer again, "that there were no sightings of the victims until they were found dead."

Morris was nodding now, understanding his confusion. "The maid was cleaning the rooms. She came up to theirs, saw no 'keep out' or 'busy' sign or whatever, so went in, and saw a girl sitting on a chair, hands and legs tied up, seemed kind of out of it."

"And she didn't think of calling the police at the sight of that?" Andy asked, interrupting Morris before he could go on. Andy now pushed himself off of Provenza's desk and started pacing again, clearly incredulous about that particular piece of information.

"She's new there," Morris gave Andy a wary look, "knows what kind of things go on there though. She said she had never walked in on anything weird before, it was the first time, and she just thought they were, uh," he paused, suddenly seeming quite uncomfortable, "playing games, if you know what I mean."

Andy rubbed a hand over his face and stopped in front of the murder board. "Unbelievable," he let out on a groan.

"So the guy forgot to lock the door, huh?" Amy said, obviously trying to wrap her head around that possibility.

"Like I said, he's getting sloppy," Morris told her.

"Wait, he actually leaves them alone there at times?" Mike asked, the shock of that sudden realization written all over his face.

"We don't know, the maid didn't see anyone but the victim, he might have been in the bathroom and not have heard the door for all we know," Morris admitted.

"Unless he left to get some food?" Nolan offered, shrugging. "Guy's gotta eat, those motels don't exactly provide room service now do they?" he added, knowing it was probably a lousy theory.

"It could've just been a slip up," Amy tried. "The unlocked door, I mean," she clarified. "You find a seedy enough motel, and who'll bother unlocking one of the guests' doors? He could have felt confident enough to leave them for a while?"

"That's the theory we're leaning toward. And that means he's getting sloppy, reckless even," Morris said.

"What I wanna know is, if he's stayed in a shitty motel in those other two cities, how the hell did he find them so quickly?" Andy asked, getting supportive nods from Mike, Amy and Nolan. "He's not a local in two, now three states, now is he?" he added, frustrated.

"We've asked ourselves that as well, haven't come up with an answer yet," Morris said, the tone of his voice showing that apparently the FBI was somewhat frustrated with that as well. More optimistically, though, while Andy only frowned, he added, "But Chief Howard told me you have his blood now?"

"Yeah," Andy confirmed, turning around to look at Morris again. He sounded disappointed even if it really was a great break for them. But it would take a while to get DNA results from it and, even if it seemed the guy operated on a schedule, he was escalating, and, as Andy suddenly realized, there was no guarantee he'd stick to it still, and that meant that Sharon might not have as much time as the other three victims. That they might not have the guy on record was an entirely different but no less depressing possibility.

"He's cocky though, with that name, if it really is him," Nolan said, eyes fixed on the murder board.

"I don't know," Morris shook his head. "It only caught our eye because one of our agents working the case is fluent in German," Morris admitted, giving Nolan a guilty look. "But with the maid's story, whatever his name was, we'd have connected it to the room she saw the victim in."

"That's good news then," Howard interrupted for the first time. He had leaned against Andy's desk and watched the debriefing quietly from over there.

"Yeah, it's great news," Andy said sarcastically. "The woman could've lived if-"

"That's not what I meant, Andy," Howard cut him off and looked over at Mike. "Time to search all motels, seedy or otherwise, for the name Würger," he told him.

"On it, Sir," both Nolan and Amy let out before Mike could say anything. Nolan walked to his desk, while Amy turned her attention back to her computer.

"Get officers out there. If this is part of his m.o.," Howard started.

"We won't find the motels online," Nolan finished.

"Exactly," Howard nodded.

"Are you checking motels in the other two cities?" Andy asked Morris, who was busy nodding at Howard's suggestion.

"Of course, we're on it," Morris now nodded at Andy. "We'll help with the search here, too."

"Okay," Andy told him. "Alright then," he added, but more to himself than any of the people around him.

"Sir," Amy addressed him, "I've sent you Agent Morris's files."

"I know," Andy told her, but made no move to get to his computer.

He faintly noticed Amy raising her eyebrows at Mike in confusion or worry, but he ignored it. That drive contained information he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Like what the scumbag did to his victims in the days that he held them captive. What he used on them to keep them 'out of it' as Morris put it. Actually, he was sure he _wanted_ to know all of that, only he didn't think he would be able to _handle_ knowing all of that. He was glad that nobody had asked that question out loud even though he suspected it was for his benefit and that fact, on the other hand, slightly annoyed him.

Surprisingly, it was Howard who offered words of comfort. "Andy, we'll find the Captain. We know under what name he checks into motels, at least I'm sure the FBI will confirm it in other motels, too." At that he glanced at Morris, who hurriedly nodded in agreement. "I know it would be much easier and more useful if the guy used his actual name, but we're not even into the first 12 hours of our investigation and we already have more than they," he waved a hand at the murder board, "managed to collect in a _month_."

"Wow, thanks for telling me the FBI's arrived," Buzz's voice carried over to them before Andy could offer Howard any kind of acknowledgement.

"You find anything?" Andy asked in a voice much harsher than anticipated.

"Uh," it threw Buzz somewhat. "Yes, actually," he took a few steps further into the room until he reached Mike, but looked at Howard and Morris, "I found a van, leaving two minutes after the Captain got knocked-"

"License plate?" Andy interrupted impatiently.

Buzz waved a piece of paper through the air, "Yeah, here it is." He was barely through with the sentence, when Mike snatched it away from him and immediately started typing on his computer.

Buzz, not too surprised by Mike's impatient eagerness, added, "I also checked out the tape before the Captain went missing." He gave Andy a sympathetic look. "Only three other vans entered the garage the entire day, but they all left before this one."

"So unless we're wrong and he's using a car," Andy started, now rubbing a hand over his chin.

"We've got him," Howard finished for him.

"Did you get a look at his face?" Andy asked Buzz.

"No," he admitted sadly, "nothing in the garage. I found him fishing out a baseball cap out of a pocket on his way to the van." He shook his head as he added, "While still carrying the Captain. It did a good job of hiding his face. But I'll pull up traffic cams, maybe one of them got him."

"Van's stolen," Mike suddenly said, looking at Andy on a frown.

Andy rolled his eyes, "What a surprise!"

"Here in LA, too," Mike added then reached for the phone. "I'll check how that search's going."

"The guy's smart, switching vehicles like that," Howard said, "but like Agent Morris said, he's getting sloppy. He's bound to make another mistake."

"Oh, God, I gotta get hold of Ricky and Emily," Andy suddenly said, checking the time on his watch.

"Go home, Andy," Mike instantly suggested, having been put on hold on the phone.

At the torn look crossing Andy's features, he added, "We're on it, if we find something, you'll be the first to know."

Andy gave him a long look and when he nodded in reassurance, he went to grab his stuff, mumbling an "Okay."

"Just one more thing," Howard's words had Andy stop and give him an expectant look. "Bottom line, this is the FBI's case," he told them with a pointed look, waving a hand at Agent Morris. "The LAPD is handling the investigation within the city, they've agreed to let us take over that part since they're still playing catch-up with the first two victims and could use the help," Morris nodded, confirming Howard's words, "but you are to cooperate fully with them, is that clear?"

He gave Andy an exceptionally long look at the last three words, but he only shrugged. "Trust me, as long as they keep us in the loop-"

"We will," Morris interjected.

" _And_ help us find Sharon," Andy pointedly continued talking, "I'll cooperate all you want. We could use their resources anyway."

If Howard was surprised, he didn't show it. "Alright then," was all he said.

Andy nodded, then turned around to get going, but suddenly a question crossed his mind and he turned back around again. "What is his motive though?" he asked nobody in particular, his gaze falling onto the murder board once more.

"That we'll have to ask when we catch him, I think," Howard told him.

At that Andy let out a contemplative "Huh." and finally walked out.

 **TBC**


	7. Chapter 7 - Calling Ricky and Emily

Here's a fairly short and uneventful chapter. Focusing mostly on Andy.

And thank you so much for your reviews! They really keep me going! :)

* * *

 **Chapter 7 - Calling Ricky and Emily**

When Andy got into Sharon's car, he had planned on driving home right away. Only, when he got inside, he got distracted.

How he had not noticed it earlier was beyond him. Probably because Mike was there, keeping him far away from his thoughts and senses with talk about what they had to do when they got to the murder room. That he finally noticed it though, did not surprise him.

He was actually quite used to it by now. Loved it and appreciated it whenever Sharon was in his vicinity.

He knew what it was, some expensive brand of perfume that smelled divine all on its own, its name not worthy of the effort it took to remember it right now, but mixed with something that he found out was uniquelly Sharon, he found it absolutely intoxicating.

It was now the one and only thing that invaded his sense of smell and with it his thoughts. For the most part, it really was just Sharon's perfume now, but that was enough for his mind to quite vividly imagine and remember its scent when Sharon wore it.

It made his chest constrict with the suffocating pressure his sudden longing for her elicited. Rationally, he knew they had spent much longer periods of time apart, but never like this. Never, when neither one of them was in the position of keeping their unspoken promise to see each other again soon. Or to hear each other. Or to text each other.

Andy took a long deep breath as that realization washed over him.

All that did for him was make the next breath harder to take.

Abruptly, without making the conscious decision to do so, he swung the door open and got out of the car. He left the door wide open and took a couple of steps away from the car giving it a look as if it had somehow managed to offend him.

It had though. It mocked him. Sharon Raydor was practically written all over it. And not just because of the smell inside. The car was clean and neat both on the outside and the inside. Sharon made sure it always was. And that was not something Andy could say about himself or his car, not that Sharon ever complained. He knew if he looked for the car's papers, he'd find them neatly organized in the sun visor above the steering wheel and not thrown hastily into the glove compartment like his were.

What would happen to her car if they didn't find her? That was a question that unexpectedly entered his mind, and now, angry at the betrayal he felt at that trivial, yet terrifying thought, he took it out on the car by violently slamming the door shut.

He had mostly managed to keep his wandering mind under control up in the murder room. Probably because he had something to occupy him and something to latch onto that would give him both rational and irrational hope.

Now though? Alone? Not so much. He took another deep breath. He adjusted his suit jacket. He rolled his neck, too. Then he forced himself to open the car door again and to fold himself into the driver's seat again, too. All the while he was berating himself, thinking he ought to keep a cool head, there would be time to lose his mind when all of this was over, however it may end. There was a small part of him that also did not want to prove Howard right in his claim that he was too close to this.

He took another breath. He inhaled the still prominent perfume through his nose, willingly. This time, he forced himself to feed on it. To let it motivate him to pull himself together for her sake, because he would be of no use to her if he cracked under his worry. For the sake of her children, because if, God forbid, they did not find her in time, they'd need all the support they could get. For her parents' sake, because, and this he realized on a painful pang that went straight through his heart, no parent should live to lose their child. And for his own sake. He had to laugh bitterly at _that_ thought, not because he thought it was stupid, but because it was what Sharon would have thought, too.

He got the car running, shaking his head at himself. He was actually wishing for Provenza to be there. He'd probably slap him silly and force him to pull his shit together. And Andy could really use someone right now who would do just that. His grumpy, old partner, was the perfect man for it.

He was just about to pull out of his parking spot, when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out and laughed out loud at the text.

"Update!" it said. It was from none other than Louie Provenza.

He dialed him, put him on speakerphone and finally got the car moving.

"Well, about damn time," Provenza gruffly told him in greeting, and it had Andy roll his eyes. Leave it to his partner to never disappoint.

...

By the time he finally got to his house, Andy had briefed Provenza on everything they had found out. Provenza worried about Rusty as well and was glad to hear the kid was not alone.

Andy had managed to calm himself down somewhat. Provenza did not slap him silly in order to accomplish that, instead it was enough to merely talk to someone who didn't shy away from laying it all out to him just as it was. Provenza had no qualms about calling him an idiot, from pointing out, for what felt like the hundredth time, that Sharon was his fiancee, and from assuring him that he was allowed to worry, because, should he lose his temper every now and then because of it, he would gladly knock some sense into him, literally if necessary.

And Andy appreciated that. He ignored most of the worried looks exchanged between Amy, Nolan, Mike and Buzz, but when the main concern should be Sharon, then it certainly irked him a bit, too. It wasn't that Provenza did not worry, he worried maybe almost as much as Andy did (whether he would admit that or not), but at least he knew that he didn't need things to be sugarcoated for him, but needed to hear them straightforwardly in the form of dry, cold facts.

In a way, Andy realized, he ought to be grateful for Howard. He was straightforward more often than not, too.

He wasn't surprised to see both Rusty and Gus still up, when he entered his home. They sat on the two beanbags in the living room. Julio, of course, had to be up, and was sitting in the chair facing the door next to the couch. What surprised Andy was that Rusty did not jump at him with a million questions.

Instead both him and Gus offered a tired, "Hi, Andy."

His surprise must have shown on his face because Julio chuckled and said, "Sykes called. I filled them in."

"Thanks," Andy told him, genuinely grateful for it. It would have taken a lot of energy to rehash the current developments once more, energy he did not think he had in him right now, especially since he had to do just that with Ricky and Emily.

"Where is everybody?" he asked then, scanning the living room. There were uniformed officers there when he left the house.

"Sent them home," Julio told him, giving him a pointed look that said that with the latest news they could ease up on the security. "Two uniforms are staying though, they're on the patio at the moment," he hooked a thumb behind him to the doors leading to it.

"Okay," Andy nodded, glancing over at the patio. They were no longer guarding the phone either.

"Have you called Ricky and Emily?" Rusty asked, finding a moment to interrupt the two.

Andy checked his watch. It was nearly 7 am in New York. "I'm about to," he let out on a sigh.

"Facetime?" Rusty offered. "I can be in on the call, too."

Andy considered him for a moment and finally entered the living room. "I think that's a good idea," he flopped down onto the couch, "because I'm not sure what to tell them."

"They're the Captain's kids," Julio suddenly chipped in on the exchange. "Tell it like it is, Sir."

Andy's eyebrows briefly shot up. "I probably should," he agreed, nodding absentmindedly.

"I think I should get back to HQ," Julio said then, getting to his feet.

"Yeah," Andy agreed, getting up again to walk him out. He knew it was not just to get to work and be of more help there, but also to give them privacy for a call they both knew would not be easy.

When he reached the door, Andy stepped out with him onto the porch. "I think it's safe to say there won't be any ransom demands," he quietly told Julio.

"Or that Rusty's in danger," Julio added.

"Yeah," Andy said gruffly, leaning against his front door.

"I'm going to start checking out motels," Julio informed him.

Andy quirked a confused eyebrow at him. "Oh, you mean the really seedy ones?" he asked, when his light bulb went on.

"Exactly," Julio nodded. "Amy's working her way through the phone book, but I'd rather join Nolan out in the field," he added.

"Yeah, me too," Andy told him.

Julio tapped him on the side of his arm. "We've got it covered, Sir. Get hold of the Captain's kids now."

When Andy nodded, Julio nodded curtly in response and walked down the porch steps and toward his car.

...

"Wrong number, Andy? It's not even 7 am yet," a sleepy Emily mumbled into the phone, rubbing her eyes.

Andy and Rusty had sat down on the couch next to one another, from where Andy finally set out to notify Ricky and Emily. It was Rusty's suggestion to call Emily. He thought she was the more rational one of the two when it came to emotionally charged matters and Andy just went with it. Gus retreated to Rusty's room, letting them make the call more privately.

"Uh, not really, Em," Rusty told her.

"Oh," Emily let out in surprise, eyes going wide when Rusty entered the field of view of Andy's phone's camera. Within a second she sobered and frowned, already worried. "Is everything okay?" They saw her scan her phone's screen, and before either Andy or Rusty could answer, she added a suspicious sounding, "Where's mom?"

"Emily," Andy spoke finally, "can you wake up Ricky? I'll tell you everything once he joins you."

Andy didn't think he would have reacted the way Emily did to such a request. He would have probably instantly flown off the handle and demanded information and explanations, but Emily just nodded, still worried of course, and got out of bed in search of her brother.

She had moved in with Ethan a few weeks ago and Andy realized that he must have been already at work since he saw nobody in bed with her.

After a bout of shuffling and some shots of her apartment's floor, they heard a knock to a door, Emily waking Ricky up and telling him who was on the line, and within another few moments, both Ricky's and Emily's faces showed up on Andy's screen. They sat down on the bed Ricky had obviously been sleeping in, and were now definitely wide awake.

"What happened?" Ricky worriedly asked.

...

30 minutes later Andy found himself fully clothed on top of the covers of his and Sharon's bed. He had only gotten rid of his jacket, lacking the energy to even loosen the knot of his tie, much less to take the whole thing off.

He didn't feel the ache of relief he usually did after a long day and night. He felt little at all, not counting the constant state of worry he had been in since Sharon went missing.

Face buried in her pillow, he once more picked up on her faint scent, and let out a muffled, frustrated groan. His entire body literally ached with the need to find her. But to do that, he needed to at least take a catnap, he knew, or he wouldn't be able to make it through the rest of the day. But it was difficult to shut his brain off.

Emily and Ricky had not taken it well. Understandably, of course.

Rusty was right, Emily was the more sensible one of his two siblings. Ricky had immediately wanted to book a flight and head to LA. Emily wanted to, too, but it was easier to convince her to just take the planned flight on Wednesday instead, than it was her brother.

Rusty was a big help actually. He had voiced a thought Andy hadn't had the heart to do, because were he in their situation, he would have reacted like Ricky, too. Probably even worse than him. How could he then have the right to ask them to stay put?

"Andy can't have you two here to worry about, too," was what Rusty had bluntly told his brother and sister. "Besides, of what use would you two be here?" he had added.

That was enough for Emily to, albeit very reluctantly, give in to Andy's plea, and to just take the flight they had booked for the next day.

Ricky however, wouldn't budge so easily.

"What if you find her?" he had asked. "And we're not there?" he had added. "What if she's-" that particular question he had not dared finishing.

"Then we'll," Andy had waved a hand between himself and Rusty, "keep her company until you get here." He purposefully ignored Ricky's final what-if.

It wasn't enough for Ricky, but Rusty had helped once again.

"What would mom want you to do?" he had asked his brother.

At that Ricky had finally deflated. "Fine," he had begrudgingly said, not even bothering to actually answer Rusty's question.

After that Andy had only asked Emily for Ethan's number. She did so without question, all of them knowing, should the worst happen, it was better to tell Ethan first and have him break the news to them. Andy had still, of course, promised to call them the moment he knew more.

The call had ended in tears, Ricky's, Rusty's and Emily's. Although the lump at the back of Andy's throat tried to force him into tears as well, he had somehow managed to put on a brave face and give out promises to do whatever was in his power to find their mother.

"Okay, bye, Andy, I love you," Emily had told him on a barely held back sob.

At that, Andy's lump tried suffocating him, but he had, without hesitation, still with some difficulty, told her, "I love you, too. I'll find her," before ending the call.

As he recalled those three little words now, the possibility that he may never hear Sharon say them again overwhelmed him so much that he hadn't even realized that he was about to pass out from the enormity of it all.

...

It was the ringing of his phone, two hours later, that startled him out of his brief and unexpected slumber.

"Yeah," he muttered into the phone, without even looking at the caller ID.

"Get your ass back over here," Provenza's voice told him.

 **TBC**


	8. Chapter 8 - The Search

Oh, I just love your reviews! Let's move on, shall we?

* * *

 **Chapter 8 - The Search**

"What happened?" Andy asked, jumping off the bed, hastily searching through the closet for a change of clothes.

"We found the van," Provenza informed him.

"Where? What's the address?" Andy asked, putting Provenza on speakerphone and his phone down on the bed so that he could actually change.

"Uh-uh," Provenza said, "you get here to the murder room."

"What?" Andy stopped mid-movement as he slipped out of his dress shirt to grab his phone again. "Sharon might be there!" he yelled into the device.

"She's not," Provenza told him bluntly. "Get back into work and I'll fill you in."

With that Provenza ended the call, leaving a speechless Andy to stare into his phone, not believing his partner had just hung up on him.

...

"Provenza," Andy said the moment he entered the murder room, but stopped talking when he found his partner seated at his desk, talking to Andrea Hobbs, who stood in front of the murder board. Otherwise, he saw none of his other team members.

When she noticed him, she instantly turned her attention to him. "Lieutenant Flynn," she started, worried, "I just heard."

Andy wasn't in the mood for words of comfort, and gruffly said, "Provenza filled you in, I take it?"

She gave the Lieutenant behind her a quick look and nodded. "That explains Rusty's call," she told him over a pointedly knowing look.

Andy's eyebrows shot up, "What call?"

"He called in sick this morning," she told him, now looking slightly confused.

"Oh, right," Andy said, shaking his head as he remembered that Rusty had actually told him he'd do as much. He had started interning for her, once he had finally made up his mind about wanting to become a lawyer and was actually supposed to be working today. "I wish he didn't though," he added, sounding slightly irritated.

"Want to keep him occupied?" Andrea asked knowingly.

"Something like that," he muttered, glancing at the murder board.

Rusty had not put up much of a fight when he told him he ought to stay at home even if he wouldn't work that day. Truthfully, Andy thought that if this had happened even just a year ago, Rusty might have reacted in a much more volatile way and had to admit that he had come a long way, both in how he handled stress and with how he dealt with Andy himself. Regardless of that, he would much rather have Rusty busy with something else besides worrying. The last thing he needed was for his patience to start running thin because that's when he liked to act without thinking. When Rusty said that Andy did not need Emily and Ricky there to be another thing to worry about, he was right of course. And Andy appreciated the fact that Rusty seemed to be aware of being one of those things already, but that did not stop him from worrying anyway.

"I get it," Andrea said sympathetically, turning around to face the murder board again. "Even I'm itching to help somehow," she added.

"You can help by putting the guy behind bars and on death row when we get him," Provenza told her.

She looked at him. "Oh, you can count on me," she assured him in a low tone of voice.

"Do you want me to insist Rusty come into work?" she then asked Andy, trying to make herself useful at least in that little way.

"No," he waved her off. "I think I know how to give him something to do," he told her, his voice going up slightly since the thought came to him only just then.

"You do?" Andrea asked, surprised.

Andy however, shot his partner a look. "Tip line's open, right?" he asked him.

Provenza's surprise lasted only a second before realization hit him. "Of course, we've got people manning the phones downstairs."

Usually, they'd have set it up right there in the murder room, but they had a lot more volunteers on the case than usually and it was easier to work on every other angle without so much noise in the room, too. Besides, none of them, least of all Andy, needed to be distracted by the hope of hearing something useful each time they heard a phone going off.

"Rusty can help," Andy told him. "He's done that before," he added.

Provenza took his phone out, "I know, I'll call him then," he said, already looking up Rusty's number.

"Gus, too," Andy suggested. Gus had taken the day off, not wanting to leave Rusty home on his own. "He'd want to help," Andy added, sure of it.

Provenza just nodded and started speaking into his phone, Rusty having apparently picked up on the first ring.

Andrea looked at Andy, rather impressed. "I'll give him a more accurate excuse for missing work then," she told him.

Andy let out a small chuckle. "Thanks," he told her.

"I have to get back to work," she told the both of them, although Provenza wasn't paying her any attention. "I'll check in, but if something happens," she trailed off, giving Andy a worried, wide-eyed look, already on her way out.

"You'll hear about it, don't worry," he told her, the words by leaving him on almost a reflex by now.

"Okay," she said and disappeared from view.

"See you then," Provenza said into his phone before ending the call. "He's only too happy to oblige, he'll be here as soon as possible. Gus, too," he informed Andy.

"Good," Andy said, then immediately went on with the reason he was there in the first place. "You found the van?" he asked, walking over to his partner's desk.

"Uniforms found the van parked somewhere in Brentwood," Provenza said.

"And?" Andy urged him on, pinning him with an impatient glare.

"We didn't find her, Andy," Provenza told him, at the same time sounding regretful and angry.

"You told me that already," Andy rolled his eyes at him. "Did they find anything else?"

"They found her purse and glasses," Provenza informed him. "They're going into evidence."

"I don't give a damn about those," Andy slammed his fist on top of Provenza's desk. "Have you found the wurger or whatever the hell he's calling himself?"

"Not yet," Provenza said regretfully. "But they're taking the van apart and doing a grid search of the area. Everybody, but Mike, Buzz and myself, is out looking."

"Grid search?" Andy asked. "But we assumed he's hiding in a motel?" he added, confused.

"Well," Provenza drawled the word, "our FBI buddies couldn't find the guy in any other motels, _yet_ ," he rolled his eyes at the last word and waved a hand at the murder board in front of Andy, where the pictures of the three victims were still displayed, "so we're not taking any chances."

"You think he's somewhere else?" Andy asked, starting to pace the room.

"Anything's possible," Provenza told him on a shrug. "He's gotta be keeping his victims close to the dump sites, though," he added. "The motel in Phoenix was barely 10 minutes from the park they found the body in."

"Oh," Andy let out in surprise, stopping in his tracks to look at his partner. Apparently, he had left before Morris filled them in on that particular tidbit. "He was limping, too," Andy then said, another glimmer of hope entering his mind.

"Yeah, I doubt he'd be too far away from wherever he's planning on getting rid of the Captain," Provenza added, catching his partner's train of thought.

"Why dump the van though?" Andy asked, genuine wonder in his words.

Provenza shrugged, "Maybe he just switched vehicles again?"

"He really is a smart bastard if he did," Andy muttered, through clenched teeth now.

"We'll get him," Provenza told him, turning his chair slightly. "We'll get the bastard, Andy."

Andy only hummed in acknowledgement, then started walking toward the exit of the murder board.

"Where do you think you're going?" Provenza was instantly on his feet, going after Andy, catching up with him in front of Sharon's conference room.

"Where do I thin-" Andy repeated in disbelief, looking heavenward and throwing his arms up. "I'm going out there," he scowled at his partner, "to help with the search."

"Not alone, you're not," Provenza retorted.

"Well, then grab your stuff and come with me," Andy replied, impatient now.

"Well, I can't," Provenza muttered, sounding quite agitated himself now.

"What do you mean you can't?" Andy shouted. "Sharon might be out there, that sick idiot doing God knows what to her, and you _can't_ go look for he?" He was now in his partner's face, and drawing the attention of other people in the room, but he didn't care about that at the moment.

"Well, I can't," Provenza said more loudly now. "But Tao is coming in, he went home for a few hours to recharge, and he's taking you with him when he gets here. I am not letting you out on your own, you're too close to this! So either you stay put and wait for him, or I'll chain you to your desk and keep you there until we find her on our own!" He was shouting now, too.

"Like you could chain me to a desk," Andy scoffed, but made no attempt to walk away.

"There are still plenty of officers who could though," Provenza instantly replied, waving a hand at their surroundings. He was right, there were uniformed officers going about their business, but should Provenza say so, they would make good on his threat in a matter of seconds.

Andy, however suddenly frowned at an entirely different matter. "What do you mean you _can't_?" he asked. "Wait, _when_ did you get here anyway?"

"About an hour and a half ago," Provenza informed him matter-of-factly, folding his arms.

Andy took a look at his watch. It wasn't even 8 o'clock yet. "Snuck out of your room?" he asked on a sarcastic chuckle. If that's when Provenza arrived, he had to have been out of the hospital by 6 at the latest, and Andy knew no doctor would have released him by then already.

"Not exactly," Provenza, quite defiantly, told him. "Patrice knows, as does the hospital. They however, would not clear me for the field." He frowned himself now. "Not until I do that 24-hour crap."

Under normal circumstances, Andy would have probably laughed in his partner's face, made fun of him even, about how he's taken quite the liking to their Captain, but suddenly, rather touched, he only let out a quiet, "Thanks."

Provenza, not at all in the mood for open displays of sentimentality just grunted and said, "Get to your desk, Tao should be here soon," before stalking off back to his own desk.

...

Andy had used the wait to finally comb through the files Agent Morris gave them. He was right earlier when he thought he couldn't handle knowing all the details.

He was quietly simmering with hatred as he scanned his computer screen. Their guy really was a sick, sick bastard.

There were no signs of rape on the previous victims. There weren't any obvious injuries apart from those consistent with what they had observed during Sharon's abduction. Those were all things that had Andy breathe a little more easily, but it's the rest of the FBI's info that had him fight his hatred fueled temper and that made his stomach churn with disgust.

Morris had said their suspect disposed of his victims neatly, but it went beyond that. Although there were ligature marks on their ankles and joints, and needle marks, entry points for a drug he used to keep them subdued, all of which was consistent with the maid's story, they were practically pampered with attention. And that was what made Andy sick to his stomach.

Their nails were done. Their hair was done. Their makeup was done. They even had some kind of lotion applied to them. What kind of a sick mind does that to someone he strangles to death?

What only increased Andy's sick feeling was the fact that the drug he used on them kept them subdued, but not completely unconscious, meaning that the victims probably went through a more psychological kind of terror than a physical one.

There was also a note, that their suspect, considering none of the victims died of an overdose, might have had some kind of medical training. The drug itself wasn't uncommon and was easy to come by, too.

The manner in which he treated and killed his victims had the FBI believe, and Andy had to agree, that the suspect must be emulating some kind of personal scenario, his victims probably resembling someone he knew and either cared about or hated, most likely both.

There had been no commentary on their suspect's possible nickname or on the motels as places he possibly kept his victims in before killing them (not surprising since that was clearly all information Morris hadn't had the time to add to the drive he gave Amy), but there were extensive notes, all within psychological profiling, regarding the parks he disposed of them, but Andy found nothing too interesting in those. Bottom line was that the suspect may appreciate nature, or the person his victim reminded him of did.

As far as leaving them dead naked was concerned, Andy didn't need a bunch of FBI profilers to tell him what that meant. The sicko took away the final piece of their dignity that way.

Lost in the information displayed on his computer screen, Andy had not noticed Provenza trying to get his attention with a harsh "Flynn!" on his lips.

Only when he practically shouted, "Andy!" did he snap out of his reverie.

"What?" Andy bit out, instantly annoyed. He looked toward his partner, then noticed Buzz standing in the middle of the room, a piece of paper in his hand. "You find something?"

"Here," Buzz offered him the piece of paper.

"Oh, my God, is that our guy?" Andy asked, sounding both shocked and hopeful. It was a black and white photo, clearly taken by one of the city's traffic cameras. It was a blurry photo, but still clear enough to make out the face of Sharon's kidnapper, despite the cap he had put on.

"I've been combing through footage, ever since you left, Lieutenant," Buzz told him, taking the photo away from him to pin it to the murder board. "I lost track of the van," he shrugged, "not that it matters now, but at least I finally got a glimpse of his face."

Andy stared at the photo, dumbstruck for a moment. Under normal circumstances he might have given Buzz props for having found something before the FBI, but right now he just couldn't believe their luck. But then his brain suddenly kicked back into gear and he pinned Buzz with a look. "Any hits on the face?"

"Only just started looking, Sir," Buzz told him, "so nothing yet. But I sent the photo to the FBI, too."

All Andy managed to offer in response was a hopeful "Good." when finally Mike entered the room.

Andy instantly got to his feet. "Let's go!" he all but barked the words.

Mike shot Provenza a puzzled look, but he just rolled his eyes and waved a hand at him. "Go," he told them.

At Andy's sudden hesitation, he added, "I'll take care of Rusty, just go."

...

It was nearly 2 in the afternoon when the team slowly filed back into the murder room. They all wore sullen faces, both angry and disappointed about their day thus far.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing!" Andy said loudly, slumping into his chair. He turned in it and glanced into Sharon's office. "Where are you, Sharon?" he asked nobody in particular, more quietly.

They had found absolutely no trace of Sharon or their suspect. Nobody had seen them or anything else suspicious either. It's like she and her kidnapper just dropped from the face of the earth. They had left patrol cars circling the area and the parks that were not too far away from Brentwood in hopes of something happening, but right now, morale was low.

They had a photo of their guy, but still no real name or anything else to add to it. So, unless a useful tip came in, even that seemed to be a dead end and, the longer they kept hitting dead ends the worse their chances of finding Sharon alive were. It was a reality that was slowly starting to pop into the foreground of all of their minds, despite the killer's schedule so far, and it turned the mood in the murder room into a very heavy one.

Julio was last to get into the murder room, carrying a stack of pizzas. Everybody else had already made it to their desks, but all heads snapped up when they heard him come in. They hadn't eaten the entire day.

"Eat," Provenza told all of them, walking over to Andy with an open pizza box. "We'll reconvene after lunch," he added, pointing the box at Andy.

Andy just shook his head and got to his feet. "I can't eat," he told him, making his way to the break room. "I need coffee."

He could feel the team staring at him as he walked away, but he ignored them. He needed some space and was glad to see Provenza did not follow him.

...

He was seated at a table, his back facing the door, and almost through all of his coffee and in the middle of doing something he hadn't done in a very long time.

He was praying. Desperately so, for some kind of break, for some clue as to where Sharon could be. He didn't pray for her to be alive. He couldn't. Possibly because their suspect's current m.o. meant she was still alive, but mostly because, as realistic a possibility it, unfortunately was, he could not process the mere idea of her being dead, let alone face that actually happening.

What was also slowly starting to wear him down was that, unless he went out and started combing through every inch of the city himself, he felt like he was running out of things to actually _do_. Calling up motels later only to have their managers or employees shoot him down, requesting a warrant or a personal dropping by, would not exactly make him feel useful either. They needed a break, a clue, a tip, anything to get a move on things.

The door opening behind him, pulled him out of his musings.

"I'm fine, Provenza," Andy muttered, not bothering to look behind him, "I'm still keeping it together."

"I'll make sure to pass the information on," a female voice told him.

Surprised, Andy turned around only to be greeted by the sight of Patrice. "Sorry," he told her, "thought you were Provenza," he told her.

She smiled, "Yes, I gathered as much."

"He's in the murder room," Andy told her, turning back to face his coffee again.

"I know," she said, rather cheerfully and stepped further into the room. She walked over to his table and sat down on the chair opposite of him. "Brought you something," she told him, putting a plastic bottle down on the table next to his coffee.

Andy eyed the thing suspiciously. A dark green, thick liquid was in it. "One of your magic drinks again?" he asked sarcastically.

"Something like that," she said on another smile. "When was the last time you had something to eat?" she asked, leaning back into her chair.

Andy looked at her, trying to find an answer to her question. "Uh," he started, without ever finishing. Had he eaten anything since lunch the previous day?

"I thought so," Patrice simply said, then tapped the bottle in front of him. "Try this, you could use some sustenance, trust me."

"I'm barely holding the coffee down," Andy informed her. "Food?" He shook his head.

"Try it," she said again. "I know you're worried, we all are," she suddenly got to her feet again, "but you'll be of no use to Sharon if you keel over from both hunger and exhaustion." With that she gave him another smile, a warm, sympathetic one, and walked out of the room.

"You're right," he admitted, although she was long gone by then. Rusty and Gus had earlier in the morning tried to get him to eat something, but he had refused.

Now, however, he uncorked the bottle and took a sip. "Wow," he let out. "Magic drink indeed," he mumbled, then walked out of the break room and toward the murder room, the drink still in hand.

When he got there, he found Patrice next to Provenza. He caught her eye and gave her a nod and a small grateful smile. She smiled in return.

"What's going on?" Andy asked. "Where are Amy and Julio?" he added, noticing the two were missing from the murder room.

"Sent them home," Provenza told him. "Buzz, too. They've been working on this since last night."

Andy nodded. They had a full regular work day before that, too. They deserved a break, he knew.

"Agent Morris sent a list of all stolen vehicles reports since the Captain was kidnapped," Mike informed him. He was sitting at his desk, focused on his computer screen. "We're going through them now to see if any have gone missing in the vicinity of the van," he added, giving Andy a quick look.

"He also had this dropped off," Nolan added, waving a big see-through bag through the air.

Andy swallowed. It was Sharon's purse. The sight of it intensified his worry. Worry about maybe never getting around to returning it to her.

"Her glasses, too," Provenza added, pointing at another bag on Amy's desk.

"You said they were going into evidence?" Andy asked, confused. He took a few steps closer to Amy's desk.

Provenza shrugged, "Nothing useful found on them," he told him. "They're still evidence, we're just, uh," he waved a hand nonchalantly through the air, "assuming temporary custody."

"Let's just hope we find the Captain in time, so that she can assume _permanent_ custody of it," Mike said, as if reading Andy's worried mind.

 **TBC**

* * *

A lull in the case, kinda. But we're finally getting somewhere in the next two chapters, you'll see! :)


	9. Chapter 9 - A Break

**Chapter 9 - A Break**

Andy had taken the evidence, Sharon's purse and her glasses, into her office. Somehow, as if by some silent agreement, nobody had been in Sharon's office since she left it with him yesterday after work. Andy had not lingered. He had merely deposited the two evidence bags onto her desk and let himself out of her office. Hopefully, the next time he entered it, it would be with Sharon herself.

When he got back into the murder room, they decided to just go over everything they knew so far.

On his way to the search earlier that day, Mike had filled Andy in on the fact that the FBI had recovered prints from the motel room, and although they did not match any they had in their databases, they did match those found in the van. Other than that, the van seemed to have been a dead end.

"We have an alert out on the name Würger," Nolan said from over his desk, "on TV, online, newspapers, we've even sent out printed copies along with that name's face _and_ the Captain's face to all motels in the city. We still have officers out canvasing them one by one, too."

"If the guy is sticking to the name," Provenza started, catching Nolan's words as he re-entered the murder room (he had walked Patrice out), "we're bound to get a hit on him." He punctuated his words by pressing a fist into his palm as he made his way toward his desk.

"Why is it taking so long though?" Andy ground the question out. He had walked over to the murder board and was scanning every piece of information that had been added to it since he started writing on it in the first place.

"The FBI had no luck finding the name in those other two cities, maybe it was just a one time deal?" Nolan said, shrugging.

"And there are around a thousand hotels in LA," Mike added, "and of motels there are at lea-"

"Yeah, Tao," Provenza interrupted, annoyed, "unless someone comes forward or we hit the jackpot, we might as well be looking for a needle in a haystack, we know!"

"If only there was a way of narrowing down our search," Andy said, rubbing a hand over his face in frustration.

Unless they got some kind of information to narrow it down, their search of motels would continue at this agonizingly slow pace. Contacting them was easy enough. There probably wasn't a motel not listed at least in a phone book, but the majority of them did not give out their guest lists over the phone, which meant they needed to do so in person and, if the managers were stubborn enough, with a search warrant, too. It was all incredibly frustrating, because so far, neither those who offered their records on their own nor those motels who demanded a warrant had had a Würger on their guest lists.

Going through all the city's motels until finally finding the right one, would therefore, take time and manpower. Time, that they probably didn't have enough of and manpower, whose entire number they could not utilize for only that one task. And to make matters worse, unless the FBI found the name in Hurricane and St. George, there was still the possibility that motels were not part of their suspect's m.o. and that the one they found so far was just randomly picked out when the opportunity presented itself to him. That there was no guarantee that their suspect had already settled in a motel (if it was part of his pattern), was en entirely different matter.

Andy then turned to Mike with a hopeful look on his face. "What about those stolen vehicles?"

He shook his head. "No luck yet. I wish all of them had Lojack," he let out on a sigh.

Andy groaned.

"Approximately 30 000 car thefts in LA each year, that would be more than 80 a day," Mike added, not at all worried about Provenza interrupting his trivia sharing again. "You'd be surprised how many of these vehicles are vans, but none of them were stolen near where we found the van," he added, his focus on his computer as he continued combing through the list Morris gave them.

"Two cars were stolen in Brentwood though," Nolan said, his attention on his own computer, "but none of them have been found yet."

"So what you're saying is, we just have to sit back and wait?" Andy asked the entire room, the question laced with both disbelief and anger. Nobody answered so he added, "And what the hell is the FBI doing anyway?" He looked around the room as if to find one of their agents there. "Where are they, huh?"

"Why don't we find out?" Provenza said, reaching for his phone.

...

It took an hour for Agent Morris to finally get to the murder room.

Andy had taken the time to check up on Rusty and Gus and to fill them in on the latest developments. He got hold of Ricky and Emily, too and by the time he was back in the murder room his temper was starting to get the better of him and he started pacing the room in anticipation of Morris.

The moment Agent Morris stepped into the room, surprisingly without Howard in tow, Andy whirled in on him. "Where the hell have you been?" He got into the man's face. "In case you haven't noticed, we're missing a police Captain here!" he yelled, pointing at Sharon's picture on the murder board. He ignored Provenza's warning hiss of "Flynn!" from behind his desk.

Agent Morris actually flinched at Andy's approach, clearly taken aback by the unexpected outburst, but after a moment, he shook his head and addressed the rest of the room. "We found the Würger on the records of a motel in St. George." He shot Andy an irritated look, "That's what I've been doing, by the way." He looked at the rest of them again. "Found prints matching those found in Phoenix and the van, but no working cameras at that motel either. And we also still have no hit on his face."

"How far from the disposal site?" Andy asked, still quite agitated.

"10-15 minutes by car," Morris said.

"Can we assume that that confirms a pattern then?" Nolan asked the room optimistically. He was sitting at his desk, his focus now torn away from the computer screen in front of him.

"Maybe," Morris shrugged. "But we're bound to find him in Hurricane as well," he added, sounding both determined and confident.

"That's so far the first way of narrowing it down," Andy muttered angrily, taking a step back from the FBI agent.

"That would narrow it down to all motels within a 20 minute distance to the city's parks," Provenza said. "What?" he aimed the word at Andy. "You want us to concentrate our search on that?" he asked sarcastically.

"That's an awful lot of parks, Sir," Nolan said, frowning.

Andy just shot both Nolan and Provenza an irritated look. "I did not say it was a _good_ way," he spat out.

"He always chose the bigger and more known parks of the towns," Morris added helpfully. "We could pour our efforts into searching those here. The FB-"

"Which were what?" Andy interrupted. "I'll give you Phoenix, but that's like two parks to choose from in Hurricane and a few more in St. George," he added, looking at the maps under each of their victims, wildly gesturing at them. He then turned to Provenza. "We're on a wild goose chase as it is," he told him, shaking his head in worry. "This is narrowing it down only slightly, and if it's just a coincidence," he left the sentence open, flopping his arms down to his sides.

"And if we actually zero in on just, say three of LA's most popular parks," Mike added, ignoring Morris's attempt to say something (he seemed to be sharing Andy's qualms about it), "that's still a lot of resources we'd be redistributing then."

"With no guarantee that we're really on the right trail," Nolan chipped in, nodding as he finally got their points.

"Unless the FBI handled the narrowed down search," Provenza suddenly suggested, giving Morris a pointed look. "I believe the Federal Bureau of Investigation has quite a bit more resources on their hands?" he asked, clearly mocking said Bureau.

"I was actually trying to suggest that," Morris said nodding, ignoring Provenza's rude undertones, but giving both Mike and Andy a somewhat irritated look because of their earlier interruption. "This is your turf, tell me where, and I'll have our guys comb the area more thoroughly, just in case."

"So Griffith Park then?" Andy suggested, not the least bit fazed by Morris's irritation. "And Elysian Park," he paused giving his team members a slightly lost look, not being able to settle on a third one. "There's really an awful lot of popular parks in this town," he said on a worried shrug.

"Topanga State Park?" Mike tried, shrugging as well. "That's popular and fairly close to where we found the van."

Andy sighed and rubbed a hand over his head. "It's also huge," he said. "I'm not being overcareful here, right?" he asked his partner, suddenly doubting himself. What if they really _were_ on the right trail and pouring all their resources into this search was actually the better thing to do?

"Whatever you're being, it's a good thing I'm in charge then," Provenza told him. "But I think you're right, we should cover all our bases. And since the FBI is willing to lend a hand," he waved a hand through the air, trailing off.

Actually, the FBI was still in charge and has been lending a hand on all fronts already. They had also not shot down any of the LAPD's suggestions so far and had not, as far as they knew, kept anything from them either, which was something they usually always did, with good reason and without.

"I'm on it then," Morris said, turning around to hastily walk out of the murder room.

"So the FBI will handle that part of the search alone," Mike said, the relief visible on his face clearly indicating that that was the course of action he, personally, preferred.

"And we'll just keep doing what we were doing so far anyway," Provenza said on a sigh, turning in his chair to shoot the murder board another look as if to reassure himself of the decision he had just made.

"Manning the phones, waiting a hit on that face," Mike started listing off, focused on his computer again, "looking for his car, searchin-"

Andy still didn't like it though, and he walked over to his desk to slump into his chair. "Maybe send one of us with him?" he asked, interrupting Mike, while his eyes stayed glued to the spot Morris just left from. He was painfully aware of how desperate he sounded, too.

"I can go," Nolan instantly said, already getting to his feet.

Provenza gave both him and Andy a long look. After a moment he shook his head and waved a hand at Nolan without even looking at him. "Fine, go," he told him.

Nolan was out and after Morris in a matter of seconds.

Before any of them could focus on their respective tasks, Andy's phone went off. He fumbled through his pockets, the ringing having startled him somewhat, and when he read the caller ID, he let out an incredulous, "Oh, my God, I forgot!" and walked away toward the break room.

Leaving a room full of surprise and worry filled faces behind him, he answered his phone on the way. "Nicole," he said softly.

"Dad!" the words came out on something in between a yell and a shriek. "I just saw the news, why didn't you call? Did you find her? Do you-"

"Nicole," Andy said quite loudly, making her instantly quiet down. He entered the break room and closed the door behind him. "No, sweetheart," he admitted sadly, "we're still looking."

"Oh, my God," Nicole let out. "Why didn't you call, dad? Are you okay?"

Andy sighed loudly, flopping into a chair at the closest table to the door. "I forgot," he told her, sounding genuinely apologetic, "I'm worried sick and we've been working around the clock and I j-"

"Oh, dad," Nicole sounded as if she was on the verge of tears, "do you know anything? I saw the guy's face, the one who supposedly kidnapped her."

"Nothing useful enough to finally get the son of a bitch," Andy let out through gritted teeth, his frustration over it bubbling to the surface again.

"Are you alright? Is your partner with you?" Nicole asked, her worry suddenly directed at her father, probably having noticed his temper rising.

"Don't worry about me," Andy assured her, his tone of voice less strained now. "I'm not fine, not until we find her, but you know, I'm fine," he explained lamely.

"What about Rusty? Emily? Ricky?" Nicole prodded gently.

"As can be expected," Andy answered on another sigh.

"I'm sorry, dad," Nicole told him thickly. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

The lump at the back of his throat made an appearance again for what felt like the hundredth time in the past 24 hours. Unless she could get Sharon back to him, no, there was nothing she could do to help. Nobody could, unless finding her and returning her safely to him was what they could do for him.

He must have stayed quiet for a moment too long because Nicole's worried voice snapped him out of his depressing thoughts. "Dad, are you there?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm here," he told her. "No, there's nothing you can do," he said, then quickly added as the thoughts only then occurred to him, "maybe call your brother? Try to keep this from the boys?"

"Okay," Nicole immediately agreed.

A sudden knock had Andy's attention and he turned around to see Provenza peeking into the room. Andy lifted a finger at him, silently asking for just a second, then spoke to Nicole again. "Look, I need to go, we're maybe making some headway here."

"Oh, sure," Nicole sounded completely understanding. "Be careful, dad, okay? You'll find her, I know it," she added more softly.

"I will. And I hope you're right, Nicole, I really do," Andy told her in a thick voice.

"Love you, dad. Call me when you find her," his daughter told him.

Andy swallowed, appreciating her optimism and faith in him more than one would have expected. "I love you, too, I will."

With that, the call ended and he turned his attention to Provenza again.

"Nicole?" Provenza guessed, letting himself into the room and closing the door behind him.

"Yeah, I forgot to call her, or my son for that matter," Andy said, getting to his feet, ready to get back to looking for Sharon.

But Provenza remained stood in front of the door, a worried look on his face. "Are you alright?" he asked him, his voice only slightly higher and softer than usually.

Had Andy known how pale and utterly drawn he looked, his reaction might have been different and he would have known Provenza's concern was literally for his physical well being at the moment. However, he didn't, so he suddenly exploded right into his partner's face.

"What kind of dumbass question is that, huh?" He spat the words out. "She's out there, God knows where," he waved a hand wildly behind him, "and we don't know who the guy is, apart from the fact that he's clearly a sick son of a bitch! We don't know what the hell his motive is!" He took a breath and yelled his next words. "We're searching all motels in the second largest city in the country trying to get the scumbag! We have nothing but a grainy photo with a nickname on it, a useless set of prints and probably not even half-way analyzed blood to go on! And you're asking if I'm alright?!" He turned around and, all of his energy suddenly leaving him, flopped down into the nearest chair. "You want your answer?" he asked sharply, moving on to the answer before Provenza could even open his mouth. "No, I'm not _alright_. I'm _pissed off_ , I wanna snap the idiot's neck, or put a bullet between his eyes. Both actually!" He took another breath. "I just need to find her," he then added, on almost a whisper.

Provenza did not even flinch. He had stayed rooted to his spot, having only crossed his arms in any kind of response, and let Andy get it out of his system. "About damn time," he muttered quietly to himself, so that Andy wouldn't hear him. More loudly, he added, now walking over to round the table at which Andy was now seated again, "You look like crap, Andy, I thought you'd faint on me." He then forced a smirk on his face. "Clearly, I was wrong," he added, waving a hand at Andy's face, some color having returned to it.

Andy took another breath, not exactly registering Provenza's words or his feeble attempt to clamp down on his temper. "Sorry," Andy told him honestly, "I'm just-" Andy shook his head and looked heavenward not finding the word to properly describe what 'just' he was.

"I know," Provenza told him sympathetically, pulling out a chair to sit down as well, across from Andy. "I actually expected you to properly blow a fuse much sooner and much more often by now," he told him, sounding almost impressed. "You know, apart from your little rant with Julio. Or Morris earlier," he added on a relaxed shrug of his shoulders.

Truthfully, Provenza had expected to have to put up a much bigger fight with Andy in order to keep him from possibly going rogue, but he had, so far, really kept it together well, he had to give him that.

"Well, if I drew FID's attention to me in the middle of all this mess, I doubt Sharon would much appreciate it," Andy told him on a short, quite bitter laugh.

Provenza chuckled, then forced an eye roll. "She's really corrupted you, you know?" he let out on an exaggerated grumble.

"Yeah," Andy let out on a high, not all too concerned sigh. "She sure has," he confirmed, an almost wistful quality to the words.

Provenza shook his head in amusement. "She's rubbed off on all of us, I think," he said quietly, seemingly lost in thought.

Andy gave him a surprised look. It was no secret that his partner had long grown out of his early animosity toward their Captain, but this was probably as close as Andy would ever get to having him actually admit to it. In response however, Andy only offered a non-committal shrug.

"You hit any AA meetings?" Provenza asked in a casual manner, but it wasn't hard to guess there was genuine concern behind the words.

Andy did not immediately respond. He took a moment to gather his thoughts. "I didn't, wasn't that much time for it anyway," he finally told him. "And, truthfully, and I know, it's strange, I haven't really thought about getting a drink at all." He sounded quite surprised by that realization. "How could I, when Sharon's the only thing on my mind right now?"

"Okay," Provenza said, nodding, considering Andy with a long look.

"I'll call my sponsor and hit a meeting the first chance I get," Andy assured him. "I'm not new at this, you know?" he added, trying to assure him on a lighter note, even if he was perfectly aware of this not being a topic either one of them joked about.

Provenza only confirmed Andy's private afterthought by quietly saying, "All the more reason to worry then."

Andy knew he was right, understood where Provenza's worry was coming from. You think you've got it handled, you soldier through it and then, without really knowing when you've told yourself one drink couldn't hurt, you find yourself with a glass of your favorite drink in hand and it all goes to hell from there on. In their line of business, you did not need first hand experience to know just how often people fell of the wagon doing exactly that. But Andy knew all of that, too. So far, his decision not to take a drink that day, as horrible a day it was and as tempting as the idea of just drowning the mere memory of it in alcohol maybe sounded, he knew it would do him no good. Nor would it help Sharon. And it really wasn't a drink he wanted or needed at the moment. No, he wanted and needed Sharon.

Without really making the conscious decision to do so, he quietly, but in a thick voice, said, "I'm supposed to marry her, Louie." The desperate undertone to his words revealed his unvoiced question, "What if now I don't?"

"You're right," Provenza told him rather forcefully, sounding confident, too, which drew another surprised look from Andy. "We'll get the bastard, we'll put a bullet between his eyes if necessary. And we'll find her." When Andy just offered a faint, not too convincing smile, he added, "You _will_ marry her! I've already rented out a tux for heaven's sake!"

That had Andy smile, but only barely. "From your mouth-"

The door suddenly bursting wide open cut Andy's sentence short and startled them both.

"What the-" Provenza started, but Mike interrupted him.

"We found the motel," he said.

 **TBC**


	10. Chapter 10 - Sharon!

Oh, the reviews! Amazing! Let's find her, shall we?

* * *

 **Chapter 10 - Sharon!**

"What?" Provenza asked, getting to his feet.

"Where?" Andy asked at the same time, but much more urgently, getting to his own feet.

Mike, leading the way back to the murder room, however, decided to answer the question neither one asked. How?

"The owner of the motel," there was a bit of surprise in Mike's voice, "called our tip line. He said he turned on the TV and saw the news, recognized our guy from that photo Buzz caught of him, checked his guest list and found the name we're looking for on it, too." They had reached the murder board, a big map of LA attached over the rest of the info they had on it, and pointed to something in the far north part of the city. "Here," Mike told them.

Andy scoffed. "And the closest park is O'Melveny Park."

"So much for narrowing it down," Provenza mumbled sarcastically.

The park was definitely not among the city's biggest and most famous ones.

"It's not as green as the other ones but," Mike shrugged.

"That's still probably where he'd like to dispose of our Captain," Provenza said, looking as if he was personally offended by even the mere idea of doing so.

"Manager hasn't seen her, by the way," Mike added, somewhat disappointed by that. "And the FBI's already on it," he told them. "They've sent people out there. Chief Howard's on his way, too."

"What the hell are _we_ waiting for then?" Andy, already well on his way out of the murder room, suddenly asked.

...

Andy took a ride with Provenza. "I don't give a damn!" had been his answer, when Mike reminded him that he was not cleared for the field.

They had called Amy, Buzz and Julio back into work, too, putting an end to whatever rest they may have been in the process of getting.

Even with sirens on, it took them more than half an hour to reach the motel. And by that time, both FBI agents as well as LAPD officers had the motel surrounded and were in the middle of quietly clearing the area.

On their way over, Howard had called to tell them where he and Morris would be; in a van parked a street away from the motel.

When they reached it, Provenza gave the side door a firm knock, looking around, probably out of habit to do so at possible crime scenes like this, and when it opened, Andy immediately asked for an update. He was itching very much to just bust down the motel room door (even though he still had no clue which room Sharon was supposedly in) and find Sharon himself, but somehow the rational part of him kept his currently very biased instinct at bay, knowing this needed to be done as carefully as possible.

"That over there," Howard, who was sitting, pointed at one of the screens in front of him, "is our suspect's car apparently," he told them first. "The manager said so at least." It was an old, quite worn, brown station wagon.

"Well, he clearly switched vehicles," Provenza muttered. "Unless he walked, oh, wait, limped the whole way over here," he added sarcastically.

Andy wasn't in the mood for his partner's commentary so he just pressed on with their questions, "Any sign of him or-"

"He's there," Howard cut him off, pointing at a second screen, showing the live feed of a camera aimed at a door. From what could be made out, it seemed to have been the last room of the row in front of the parking lot. "Take a look at this one, though," he pointed at a third monitor.

"Is that them?" Andy asked in disbelief, his eyes going wide at the sight of the monitor's feed.

They had used thermal imaging and among hues of blues two shapes could clearly be made out. They were quite close to one another, both in tones of orange and red, and it seemed like one of the shapes was sitting while the other one stood.

"Yes," Morris confirmed. He was sitting next to Howard.

"She's alive," Andy let out on a relieved sigh, his disbelief still noticeable.

"She is," Provenza agreed, tapping his partner's shoulder.

"How do we get her out?" Andy asked, making an effort to focus on the more immediate task at hand. "I take it we're not shooting the guy through the walls?"

"Oh, we've considered it," Howard assured him.

"But as you can see," Morris waved a hand at the thermal imaging feed.

Andy spoke before he could finish his thought, "You can't tell where he's standing, behind or in front of her." He sounded frustrated again.

"Exactly, we'd be risking shooting them both," Morris admitted regretfully. "And he's been like that for the past 15 minutes," he added. "We've not cleared the rest of the motel yet, either."

"What the hell's he doing there so long?" Andy asked, both worried and curious about it.

"So we either wait for him to move or?" Provenza asked over Andy's own question, sounding as frustrated as his partner.

"We come up with something else," Morris said matter-of-factly.

"What about entry points?" Andy asked, sounding hopeful.

Howard shook his head, pointing at the feed showing the room. "Just the door and that window next to it."

"You gotta be kidding me," Andy said, throwing his arms out. "I hate dumps like these!"

"We were thinking of trying to draw him out," Howard informed them.

"How? By having someone knock on his door?" Provenza asked sarcastically.

"Something like that," Howard however said.

At Andy's and Provenza's confused looks, both Howard and Morris got to their feet. "Let's move this somewhere else," Morris told him, leading the way out of the van.

...

Somewhere else turned out to be an impromptu command center they had set up close to the van but far enough from the motel so it wouldn't draw their suspect's attention should he take a peek behind his window's drawn curtains. They found the rest of their team already there, sans Julio, along with a few people wearing vests, the letters FBI displayed on them.

Howard and Morris had filled Andy and Provenza in on their plan on their way over and as they entered it, Andy was in the middle of angrily asking Howard "What?" before adding an equally angry sounding "The hell I am!"

"You're too close to this," Howard told him, a note of warning in his tone now. "Something goes wrong and I have a whole lot of questions to answer."

"Nothing will go wrong!" Andy heatedly said. "She's in there, and you're telling me to what, just stay put and watch the show? Are you out of your mind?!"

"Flynn!" Provenza warned. He had been ordered to stay put, too, since he was not cleared for work in the field. He had agreed only begrudgingly, but agreed he had.

It was Amy who spoke before Howard could offer a probably much more effective warning. "Lieutenant, we've got it covered," she said, catching Andy by surprise long enough so that she could go on without interruption. The rest of them had been filled in on the FBI's plans as well apparently. "Mike and an FBI agent will be right next to me, Julio's on the roof, a bunch of other agents as well, ready to shoot. The moment we take him out, she's all yours." At that last bit she gave Howard a slightly questioning look.

Andy still seemed bewildered, but said nothing and just glared at Howard.

"Paramedics will get in there, too," Howard said on a side-note, "but yes, I won't stop you then, Lieutenant."

"No," Andy said, shaking his head as he started pacing. He spoke quite calmly though, "If something happens and I'm n-"

"Lieutenant," Amy interrupted again, waiting a beat until he stopped pacing, "we want to get the Captain out of there as safely as you want to," she told him.

Andy swallowed, looking at her.

"Don't make me have to restrain you, Lieutenant, or cuff and send you back downtown," Howard told him. "And remember, FBI's running this show."

At that Andy shot Morris an angry glare, but he, although maybe just a bit uncomfortably, agreed, nodding.

"I'm gearing up," Andy said with determination, his words aimed at both Howard and Morris. They looked like they were about to offer protest, but he quickly went on, "I'll stay put, right behind Amy and Mike, and the moment one of them," he waved a hand somewhere in the direction where Julio and the other agents and officers were probably already set up, "shoots him, I'm going in. Put me to use, god dammit!"

An actual note of pleading entered his voice and he wasn't even ashamed of admitting it. He just _needed_ to be there. How hard could it be to understand that? He had no intention of doing anything that would jeopardize their plan. Quite the opposite actually. And did he not make her a promise to stand by her no matter what? And Emily, Ricky and Rusty to find her? How was he supposed to keep those promises if the closest he would get to the action would be (if Howard were to agree to even that) by watching it all unfold on a set of monitors?

He was a trained police officer for crying out loud. A Lieutenant of the Major Crimes Division at that. He did not earn his stripes by some dumb stroke of luck. He could do his job, he was damn good at it, too. And no matter how close they thought he was to all of this, he knew very well what was at stake here. And that fact would not make him forget the decades working on the force taught him. If anything, it would make it all the more clear to him just how important it was to handle the situation right. Was that really so difficult to comprehend? That, if there was one person there who knew just how important it was to get Sharon out of there in one piece, it was him?

Only when he registered the taken aback looks on Morris's and Howard's faces, did her realize that the last part of his musings he had said out loud, shouted them actually, and he promptly snapped his mouth shut. However, regret or shame for having lost his temper again, were not feelings that washed over him and made him go silent. He felt confident and determined. It was probably because of all of the adrenaline that had pushed his entire body and mind into overdrive, he knew, but he was determined to help.

Howard and Morris exchanged a quick look. "It's your call, Agent Morris," Howard said, clearly washing his hands off the entire ordeal and the possible consequences of whatever decision was made.

"There's movement," suddenly one of the FBI people said, the words effectively putting an end to the argument.

"Oh, my God," Andy said, taking in the monitors that showed the same feed they briefly followed back in the van.

Their suspect had actually walked out of the room, alone, probably just like he had done in Phoenix. He was completely oblivious to the agents and police officers surrounding the place and was in the middle of quite casually locking the door when Morris grabbed hold of his microphone.

"Everybody move in! Move in _now_!" he yelled into it.

Instantly, there was a flurry of activity. Andy was out and running in the direction of the motel first, hastily tightening his, until then only loosely attached, vest, the rest of his team, including Provenza whose earlier order instantly flew out the window, closely following. Morris stayed put, eyes glued to the screens where he followed the action. Howard looked torn for the briefest of seconds, then went after his division.

By the time they laid eyes on the scene, their suspect had realized what situation he had found himself in and had started running down the veranda away from two FBI agents chasing him.

"What are those snipers waiting for?" Provenza muttered angrily.

"They haven't cleared all the rooms yet," Mike quickly explained. "They can't risk shooting someone else by accident, too," he added.

And sure enough, as if proving Mike's point, they saw their suspect push a random guest out of his way as he took a sharp right turn to run down the other outside side of the motel.

When they reached their suspect's hotel room door, Andy stopped in his tracks, the suspect completely escaping his thoughts now.

Amy and Nolan just ran past him, set on helping to apprehend their suspect.

Andy kicked in the door, Mike and Provenza catching up with him, too. He only faintly registered Howard somewhere behind them urgently asking for paramedics to move in as well, and, quickly scanning the room, he found what he was looking for.

In a panicked voice he let out, "Sharon!" just as they all heard a shot going off.

 **TBC**


	11. Chapter 11 - A Long Story

**Chapter 11 - A Long Story**

He felt fingers going, only barely, through his hair and, when he turned his head, he was met by a set of green eyes he had spent the past day or so worrying about never seeing again. She had let out a soft, strained hum, but neither that nor her fingers were what woke him up. He could simply tell the instant she was finally awake, and once she was, he was, too.

They were at the hospital and, if Andy had to guess, it was close to sunrise. He was sitting on a chair on the left side of her hospital bed, having fallen asleep on top of her hand he had been holding on to ever since she was placed there, hours and hours ago. This was the first time she had woken up since passing out when they found her.

He smiled a huge, wide, teeth revealing smile of relief at her and lifted his head to sit back in his chair. "Hi," he told her softly, "welcome back."

 _She was_ _back._ He had found her tied to a chair, barely conscious, and by the time the paramedics got in, she had gone completely limp. She would not have appreciated it if she knew, but he had nearly bit the poor paramedic's head off, until he finally assured him that her heartbeat was steady and that she had probably only passed out due to the drugs her kidnapper had used on her.

She was pale now, really, really pale, clearly exhausted, too, and she seemed so small all of a sudden, much smaller than her already small frame had ever made him think she physically was. She had liquids pumped into her right hand to help flush her system clean of the drugs. The doctor assured him she would regain both consciousness and color by morning, it would just take some time and patience. So he tried not to worry, but it was hard not to when she couldn't assure him herself that she was okay. Until she could, it was rather natural by now to simply continue worrying then.

She smiled back, but only barely and tried to move, wincing in pain at the attempt.

"Don't," Andy told her, in an equally soft voice. He got to his feet, and put a hand over her right arm, "your shoulder's messed up," he informed her.

It really was. It had required surgery, would require a bit of physical therapy, too, and her arm was now in a sling, bent to have her forearm resting over her abdomen, helping ease the strain on her shoulder so that it could start mending. "But it should heal up nicely," he added at the worried look that crossed her features.

He felt her relax slightly at his words, the muscles in the arm under his hand going fractionally slacker.

She hummed in acknowledgment. "Can you please get me some water?" she asked in a raspy voice.

"Sure," Andy instantly reached for the cup that was on the stand next to the bed. Surprised, he realized fresh ice chips were in it, a nurse must have checked up on her not long ago while he, too, was asleep. "Here you go," he told her, helping her when he noticed her hand trembling slightly.

"Thank you," she told him in a stronger voice, her grateful smile lasting longer, too.

Andy sat down again and grabbed ahold of her left hand again. He lifted it up to his lips, and, before pressing a long soft kiss into it, asked, "How are you feeling?" He gave her a searching look, too.

She sighed, but met his gaze. "Heavy, I think," she told him quietly, a note of wonder in her words.

"Yeah," Andy said, looking at her sympathetically, "you had minor surgery on you shoulder," his next words he added in an angrier tone of voice, "and that son of a bitch pumped you full of some drugs." More softly, he added, "Doc said to expect it, but you should be back to normal in no time." He then asked, "Want me to help you sit up?"

"Yes, please," she said, grateful for the suggestion.

"Thought so," he told her, helping her sit up slightly, so he could fold her rather thin hospital pillow and prop her up on it. "Better?" he asked when she was settled in, now half lying, half sitting on the bed.

"Much. Thank you," she told him, smiling slightly. "What happened?" she then asked, her voice revealing just how tired she still was, despite having slept for quite a while now.

"How much do you remember?" Andy asked in reply. He had no intention of forcing her to recount her part of the story if she didn't want to, but he had to ask. The FBI certainly would later, too.

"He surprised me," she started, seeming surprisingly lucid given her circumstances. "When you left, he approached me, asking for directions to some place in Beverly Hills," she said slowly. Her eyes started wandering as she searched her memory.

Andy, trying to help, said, "We saw it on tape, he caught you off guard."

She let out a frustrated groan, looking up for a moment. "I nearly had him," she told him, pinning Andy with a heated look, "but then he pulled out, uh, a taser, I think," she lifted her hand to the spot where it had hit her, "and I just," she trailed off, shaking her head at herself as if somehow that was her fault.

"I know, he played dirty," he told her, grabbing hold of her hand again.

"I only remember finally waking up in that room, tied to a chair," she told him next. "I was awake, but," she sighed, "I was so weak, so heavy." She gave him a desperate look, squeezing his hand tightly. "I wanted to fight the restraints, but whenever I tried to move, I just couldn't get my body to cooperate."

"That would be the drugs," Andy told her, running a hand up her left forearm. "See," he told her, pointing to a patch of skin needle marks could be made out on.

Her nod told him she remembered that part, too. "What day is it?" she asked softly, inspecting the spots he pointed out.

Andy gently rubbed a thumb over the marks on her forearm. "We found you last night, on Tuesday," he told her. "It's Wednesday by now," he added.

Again she nodded. "He's sick Andy," she told him after a moment, tearing her eyes away from her needle marks. "He combed my hair, told me he'd do my nails next." A noticeable tremor went through her and Andy instinctively pulled his chair closer to the bed, keeping a tight hold on her hand.

"And creepy," Andy muttered.

"He was," she paused before settling on her next word, "grooming me for something, I think." A small frown crossed her features. "And telling me how everything would be perfect once he was done. That I just needed to listen."

"Listen to what?" Andy asked, a frown on his face, too.

"I don't know," she said on a sigh. "But the way he kept repeating it, made me think he'd get angry if I didn't."

"So he was calm?" Andy asked.

"Frighteningly so," Sharon admitted, shaking her head. "He was intense, you know?" she pinned Andy with a look. "He didn't hurt me, he was quite careful not to, actually, but there was just this," she looked away in search of the right words, "feel to him, like he would, like he was trying to make _that_ perfect."

"Make hurting you perfect?" Andy inquired, not sure he was understanding her right.

"Yes," she looked at him. "It doesn't make sense, I know. Maybe being tied up and drugged helped make me feel like that, but," she took a tired breath, "it felt real."

He squeezed her hand, letting her know he understood. "He can't make you feel like that again," he assured her, the anger in his voice clearly not aimed at her.

"He was always so close," she told him quietly, and the way she looked away as she said the words, made Andy think she felt like he still was, "and so, oh," she took a breath, cutting herself off to give Andy an intense look. "Invading," she said, reluctantly, as if the word didn't do what he was justice.

The word had Andy loosen his hold on her hand, suddenly worried that it was all too much for her, but when, in response, she tightened her own hold on his hand, he smiled briefly, wanting to shake his head at the thought. She'd have let him know by then if he was encroaching on her in any way.

"Not you," she said, giving his hand a quick squeeze. "But do you know what I mean though?" she asked, the look she gave him almost begging him to understand.

He met her look with a sad and pained one of his own. "I do," he told her honestly.

Invading, as in taking control over her without her allowing it and being able to fight him, and by doing that, threatening her just as effectively as one might have by pointing a gun at her. If this was how she felt after spending, guessing by her account thus fur, less than 12 awake hours with him, into what state did he manage to drive his previous victims over the course of three or four days?

She only nodded, reassuring herself that he was telling her the truth.

Andy hesitated for a moment before gently inquiring, "Has he talked to you about anything else?"

She didn't seem to mind the question, although when she spoke she looked away again. "He talked quite a bit about his mother." She sounded more agitated as she went on, "I can't remember the details, I tried to pay attention but," she sighed and gave him a defeated look, "it was difficult."

"Don't worry about it," Andy quickly told her but Sharon wasn't done.

"I think he told me her name, too, but," she groaned again, "I just can't remember it."

"Don't worry, we've got the guy," Andy told her firmly, then shrugged. "Maybe it gets back to you later."

Sharon hummed, "Maybe." Then she looked at Andy in surprise. "You've got him?" she asked. "Wait, how did you even find me?" she added, much more alert now, too.

"That's a long story," Andy smiled at her bland look, glad to see it again, "but when he left your room last night, we were already camped out there, FBI and LAPD."

"FBI?" Sharon asked, now even more surprised.

"You're not his first," Andy paused, hating to use the word 'victim' on her. "He kidnapped other women," he decided to say. "We connected it to their already open case."

"Oh," Sharon let out, letting that information sink in. She didn't need to ask to know how those kidnappings ended if it managed to draw the FBI's attention.

"Anyway, when he left your room, no clue about us being nearby, we chased after him," Andy explained. "Well, actually, the FBI, Amy and Nolan did," he corrected. "I was busy kicking in the door to your room," he added on a crooked, but guilty smile.

She shook her head at him. And Andy had to chuckle, his first genuine one in what had felt like an eternity. He knew she'd have things to work through, with a therapist probably, but he was glad to see this completely normal thing about her. A thing he was so used to by now and didn't even realize he had missed in the short time that he worried he might never see her again. A normal thing in this completely abnormal situation they found themselves in. She would give him an earful about rules and protocol, he could tell. And boy, was he glad that she would. That she _could_.

"And," he went on, "one of the FBI guys shot him in the end." At Sharon's raised eyebrow, he added, "Didn't kill him." He sounded genuinely disappointed by that. "FBI has custody of him."

She hummed in acknowledgment, quietly processing Andy's words. "He went out to get us something to eat," she suddenly, somewhat absentmindedly, told him.

"Huh?" Andy let out. "You're kidding?" he added, clearly not believing his ears.

"I'm not," she told him, quirking a surprised eyebrow at him. "He was so disgustingly attentive to me, that I tried to use it to my advantage."

"So attentive that he tied you up and drugged you?" Andy scoffed, the words escaping him in a grim tone of voice before he could catch them.

"So I told him I was hungry," she went on, ignoring his flaring temper. "I hoped to get him out long enough to try getting out of those ropes." It was her turn to scoff. "Little good did it do to me, since I could barely keep my eyes open, let alone fight my restraints."

"It did a whole lot of a good, Sharon," Andy told her, in awe about just how important a part she seemed to have played in her own rescue. "We were in the middle of an entirely different course of action when the idiot got out of that room," he added.

"So why the earlier surprise?" she asked, still clearly puzzled by his initial reaction.

"We had reason to believe that he left one of the other women alone for a moment, too," Andy told her, almost reluctantly. "We couldn't figure out why he'd do that. I mean, he was either really confident or incredibly stupid." He started shaking his head at the next words, "And Nolan suggested that maybe the guy just needed some food."

She hummed again. "I'm glad biology worked in our favor then," Sharon told him on a faint smile.

"Oh, trust me, I am, too." Andy kissed her hand again. "I was worried sick, I'm sorry I left you alone in that garage," he added, giving her a pained look.

"Oh, Andy." She slowly pulled her hand out of his hold, reaching for his cheek to give it a gentle caress. "You have absolutely nothing to apologize for. It wasn't you who did this."

He shook his head, but instead of arguing, he thickly told her, "You have no idea how glad I am we found you."

"Me, too," she assured him in an equally emotional voice.

They stayed quiet for a moment, just looking at each other, Andy finally looking away once he took her hand in his again. He touched the tip of each finger on it, as if making sure they were all there. He smiled when she caught his hand to make him stop.

"I should probably call a nurse, tell her you're up," he suddenly said, reaching for the call button.

"No, don't, please," she asked of him, her earlier tiredness back in full force apparently.

"You sure?" he asked, stopping mid-movement and giving her a questioning look.

"Yes, I can't handle the probing and the prodding right now," she somewhat begrudgingly admitted.

"Can I at least call Ricky, Emily and Rusty?" Andy tried on a lighter note.

"Oh, they know?" she asked, her voice going higher and quieter at the same time. She sounded rather disappointed, as if she had hoped that they didn't, probably a faint glimmer of hope, since she must have known how these things usually worked.

Andy gave her an incredulous look. "Have you met them?" he asked her jokingly.

She smiled her widest smile so far, but her features soon turned worried, sad even. "Emily and Ricky, they didn't come down here, did they?" she asked, her worry seeping into her words as well.

"No," Andy immediately assured her, putting his other hand on top of their already joined ones. "I got them to stay put, they're coming tomorrow, or well, today, as scheduled." He shook his head then and added, "Rusty on the other hand..."

"Is he okay?" Sharon asked quietly, still worried.

"I sent him and Gus," Andy checked his watch, it was past 3 am, "home a couple of hours ago. He'll be back first thing in the morning though."

She nodded, looking away so Andy aimed a worried look of his own at her.

"Oh," she finally let out on a long note and, without Andy having to ask anything, said, "I love them to bits, but if you call, they'll just," she waved a hand tiredly through the air, trailing off.

Andy's worried look was instantly replaced by one of realization. "They'll probe and prod?" he tried, knowing the words were an understatement.

She sighed and gave him a guilty look. "Yes," she admitted feebly.

"Look," he fished his phone out of his pocket, "I'll just text them you were awake then fell asleep again, okay? They can maybe call in the morning then." He lit up his phone's screen as he added, "They've sent me about-" he paused to chuckle, turning his phone around so she could see, "a million texts asking for updates."

Sharon smiled a feeble, guilty smile. There were about half a dozen of messages from not just each of her three children, but from Andy's too, she realized as he scrolled down his inbox.

"Okay, what's a little white lie?" Sharon said, still not too happy about it.

"Oh, you're going back to sleep," Andy assured her, already busy typing out his text. "It won't be a lie at all," he added.

She smiled again and kept watching him until he was done. She saw him put his phone on silence before depositing it on the stand next to her ice chips.

He smiled when he noticed her. "What?" he asked, realizing her thoughts had strayed.

She shook her head and looked away. "Nothing," she told him on a sigh, "I just, uh," she sighed again, trailing off.

"I know," he told her, realizing just how overwhelmed all of this must have been for her. It certainly was for him and he was merely on the outside of it. "Sleep now, everything else we'll deal with later," he told her, offering her a reassuring smile.

"What about you?" she suddenly asked, taking in his appearance for the first time since waking up.

He hadn't shaved since Monday morning probably, and his stubble formed a faint shadow on his chin and cheeks. She really was still woozy and exhausted, since she hadn't noticed it earlier when she touched his face. He was pale and the dark circles under his eyes told her he must have been exhausted, too. She wondered if he had gotten any sleep at all. She couldn't locate his jacket, but his dress shirt was crumpled and his tie was loosened. That alone was sign enough of just how long a day he must have had.

"I'll be here," he squeezed her hand again, "don't you worry."

She scooted to the right side of the bed, ignoring the pain that went through her shoulder at the movement.

He instantly realized what she was trying to do. "No," he said, tugging on her hand to get her back into her earlier position. "I haven't showered since Sunday, anyway," he told her lamely.

"Neither have I," she retorted, then shrugged her shoulders, wincing in pain, and adding anyway, "I think."

Andy grimaced at the sight of her in pain, but had to shake his head in amusement at her humor. Another one of those normal things that made him believe things would be okay again.

When he made no move to get off his chair, she added, more seriously, a bit of pleading to her voice now, "It's only my shoulder." It was not hard to guess where his reticence was coming from and when he looked away, she knew her guess was right. "I know you won't go home, nor would I want you to," she admitted that last bit somewhat shyly, "and we'll both sleep better like this anyway."

He sighed, but finally relenting, carefully climbed into her bed, mindful of the tube attached to the top of her hand and of her bandaged shoulder.

She wormed her left arm around his waist underneath him and leaned her head against his shoulder as he wrapped his own arm around her waist, keeping her close.

He tucked them in and dropped a kiss into her hair, mumbling a quiet, "I love you."

At the same time she let out a shuddering breath and said, so quietly that he wasn't sure he had heard her right. "I was so scared." Only when she added, "I've never felt so powerless," did he realize he hadn't imagined the words.

"I know, me, too," he told her, pulling her impossibly closer to her, still careful not to hurt her injured shoulder.

Powerless and scared were not words he, or anybody else for that matter, would ever use to describe her. Hearing her use them for herself, therefore, sent a pang of pain through him, his heart aching for her. But the foremost thing he felt was anger. He was livid with it. She was the strongest person he knew and having _her_ of all people stripped of that strength by a sick bastard who only accomplished that by resorting to cowardly means such as tasers and drugs, made his blood boil. He wanted to inflict that same pain on him, intensify it tenfold if at all possible, just to get the rage out of his system. But he wouldn't, he couldn't. She wouldn't want him to do that either nor would it do her any good.

All that mattered now was that she was there, back where he would not let go of her ever again.

He took a shuddering breath of his own then added, tightening his hold on her, "You're safe now. I am not letting you out of my sight any time soon."

She scooted closer to him, as if it were somehow possible to just melt or crawl into him and the safety his embrace offered. "Don't let go of me, Andy," she told him in such a small, cracked voice that all Andy could do was wrap his other arm around her and obey.

Otherwise, he would have succumbed to the immense pressure her voice somehow put onto his chest and if he did, he didn't know whether he would start sobbing at the helplessness and injustice of it all or if he would just explode with his still simmering anger. He took a deep breath, trying to clamp down on both equally threatening possibilities.

He felt her sniff and he tightened his hold on her, having to suddenly swallow the lump that, at the sound of it, formed at the back of his throat.

She cried for a few long minutes, her silent tears drenching Andy's shirt. But Andy just held on to her, pressing soft kisses into her hair and running a thumb soothingly over the side of her right arm, still incredibly wary of hurting her shoulder, until he finally felt her breathing even out and her body slacken as sleep finally covered up her pain. Only then did he close his eyes and let sleep take him under as well.

 **TBC**

* * *

Nothing spectacular happened after that shot, I know. *shrugs* But on the bright side, no cliffhanger? XD  
Do tell me what you thought of this resolution though? (Btw, your reviews on the previous chapter were just awesome!)  
And yes, we'll find out who kidnapped Sharon, and we will discuss the wedding. I've not forgotten that this is supposed to be a wedding story! ;)


	12. Chapter 12 - Babysitting

We're done with the suspense and angst, I think. I could have continued terrorizing you with it, I certainly had enough ideas, but, if I'm to finish this story before the rest of the show's season airs, I better finally start moving us past the worry and into slightly more fluffy territory.

* * *

 **Chapter 12 - Babysitting**

When he woke up, the first thing he noticed was hair in his face, the second thing was the weight, a quite comfortable one at that, of a person on one side of his body, the third was the low hum the person let out.

When she mumbled a sleepy "Morning." he had to smile. It wasn't a dream. She was there.

"Morning," he mumbled, blowing her hair out of his face to kiss the top of her head.

"My shoulder is killing me," she informed him, making no move, however, to lift her head off his chest or to disentangle herself out of his embrace.

He lifted a hand, just long enough to check his watch. They had only slept for a couple of hours, the doctor wouldn't be making his rounds any time soon. "I'll call the nurse," he told her, reaching for the call button.

Sharon offered no protest this time.

However, when the nurse saw she was awake, she called for the doctor, too, he was apparently on a night shift and not through it yet. Andy had gotten out of bed to let him check on her. He said she was doing very well, and that, if she kept it up, he would release her the next morning, maybe even that evening. The news put wide smiles on both Sharon's and Andy's faces.

Barely a minute had gone by after the doctor and the nurse left the room, and Andy had barely managed to sit down on the side of Sharon's bed, when the nurse came in again wearing a warm smile.

"Visitation hours aren't here yet, but you do have a visitor," she informed Sharon on a slightly questioning tone of voice. "A quite worried one, by the looks of him," she added.

Andy and Sharon exchanged a quick look.

"Rusty," Sharon said quietly, but before she could ask, the nurse spoke again.

"I can bend the rules a bit and let him in, if you'd like," she offered.

"Yes, please," Sharon said on a grateful smile.

"Alright then." With that the nurse left only for Rusty to be let in a moment later.

"Mom!" he said the moment he set eyes on her, probably not even registering Andy getting up to move out of his way, when he approached Sharon's bed. He was just about to hug her, when he stopped and looked at her in worry. "You're hurt," he said as if she needed reminding of the fact.

"Come here," Sharon said, pulling him into a one-armed hug, ignoring both the little bit of pain she still felt in her shoulder and the tubing still attached to her.

Rusty hesitated only for a moment, before reciprocating.

"Oh, I've missed you," Sharon told him, squeezing him tightly.

"Me, too, I've been so worried," he told her as they let go of one another.

"You can stop worrying," Sharon said, shaking her head, not quite ready to break contact with him as she ran a hand down the side of his arm affectionately, "I'm okay." She then smiled, taking hold of his fingers and softly asked, "How are you?"

"Oh my God," Rusty rolled his eyes. "She gets kidnapped," he addressed Andy all of a sudden, "and asks how _I_ 'm feeling?" He shook his head, and, not waiting for Andy's reply, if he even had one, turned his attention to Sharon again, "I'm fine, I'm great now that we've found you." He then finally really took in her bandaged shoulder and sling and asked, "How are you?" He pointed to her shoulder, "You in pain?"

...

They spent the next couple of hours talking, Rusty sitting in a chair on one side of her bed, Andy on the other. Sharon was mostly listening to them.

Andy had filled her in on the most important parts of their investigation, at least up to the moment they finally found her, since he didn't exactly know what had happened after the FBI apprehended their suspect. Andy was sure Provenza had filled him in last night already, but in his worried state of mind he had paid little to no attention to him. The team would drop by sooner or later anyway to fill her in on their own, he guessed.

Rusty had filled her in on his own doings and those included a part Andy had purposefully left out, giving Rusty a chance to come clean himself.

Having worked the tip line, Rusty had heard when the manager's call came in. He wasn't the one to answer that particular call, but when the woman who did frantically dialed Major Crimes, he had instantly known something was up. The woman had no idea who he was, she was a volunteer just as Rusty, and, when he asked, she told him who had called and what had been said during the call.

Not having the perks of police sirens, it had taken Rusty longer than the team to arrive at the scene but arrive he did, Gus in tow. To Gus's credit, he had argued against going, tried keeping him at HQ, but they all knew how stubborn Rusty could get and, unless he tied Rusty up to restrain him, his final choices ended up being to either go with him and at least keep an eye on him or to let him go on his own.

They had arrived just as the ambulance, with Sharon and Andy in it, drove away. Provenza had, thankfully, known where they were headed and, while chewing Rusty out for having come there in the first place, informed him of the hospital his mother was being taken to.

Together with Andy, he had then paced the hospital floor while waiting for Sharon's surgery to end, and had Andy not all but kicked him out of Sharon's room to send him home with Gus, he might have spent the entire night at the hospital, too.

Sharon had said very little during Rusty's retelling of his story but by the end of it she was wearing a slight frown, even though Rusty had ended it on a smile.

"That was incredibly reckless of you!" she said sharply, shaking her head. "Walking through a taped of, not just police area, but an FBI crime scene. Have you any idea what you could have walked in on?"

Rusty was clearly taken aback by her suddenly harsh tone of voice but said, shrugging, "Nobody was there to stop me."

It was the wrong thing to say. "Which makes it all the worse. He could have been armed and on the loose. And you co-"

"I know, I know," Rusty interjected before she could get on a roll, or worse, start pulling out middle names. "I wasn't thinking, I-"

"No, you clearly were not," she interrupted, practically spitting the words out. When she registered Andy's hand patting her thigh lightly, she took a calming breath. She knew what he was trying to say. That she was exhausted and that, although she would be this upset no matter how she felt otherwise, under normal circumstances, she would not be reacting this way.

Deciding to help the kid out a bit, but also to calm Sharon down somewhat, Andy said, "In all fairness, I completely forgot to tell him." He shrugged. "When we found out, we practically flew out of the murder room." He also added, "Provenza bit his head off already, too."

Sharon acknowledged him with a faint smile, but addressed her now rather guilt ridden looking son, "If something had happened to you," she shook her head, tears suddenly clouding her vision, "just because," she continued thickly, "I was-"

"No," Rusty quickly interrupted, almost panicking because of the turn her thoughts had taken. "Can we just drop it, please?" He was actually pleading. "You're here, I'm here, we're all here, alive and safe, please just," he shook his head, trailing off.

Sharon just looked at him, still quite upset with his actions.

"Fine, we're dropping it," Andy said, a note of finality in his voice. He was glad to see Sharon offering no protest.

Using the opportunity to change the topic, Rusty said, "I spoke to Ricky on my way here."

The words worked like magic and Sharon's attention was instantly turned to her other two children. "Are they alright? Where are they?"

Rusty rolled his eyes at the first question, but answered. "They're fine. They can't wait to see you. They wanted to call but didn't know if you were up again." He checked the time before adding, "They should be on their way to the airport by now."

Sharon smiled, now much more eager to see and talk to them than she was earlier in the night. "Good," she said.

"Talked to Nicole, too, by the way," Rusty informed Andy. When he suddenly groaned, Rusty ignored Sharon's surprised look and just went on. "Exactly," he told him knowingly. "She's glad to hear you're okay," he told Sharon. "And said _you_ ," he turned his attention to Andy again, "can call whenever you find the time." On a more humorous note, he added, "You're forgiven apparently."

"What was she doing up at that ungodly hour anyway?" Andy grumbled, but clearly felt guilty for having, again, forgotten to update his daughter. He had texted Sharon's kids but did not think of responding to his own children's messages.

"What do you _think_ she was doing?" Rusty asked sarcastically.

Worrying, Andy knew. "Did you fill her in?" he asked in response.

"Of course," Rusty told him seriously. "But really, you don't have to call right away." He looked at Sharon. "She'd like to drop by for a visit later though?" he asked.

"I'd love to see her, too," Sharon assured him. She had to smile when she noticed Andy's warm smile at her words.

"Oh," Rusty suddenly let out, getting to his feet. "I brought you something," he said, getting up to walk back to the door. He picked up a bag that he must have dropped there without either Sharon or Andy noticing, when he got into the room. "I brought you a change of clothes," he told Sharon, swaying the bag lightly as he walked back toward the bed, "some toiletries, too. Couldn't find your glasses and phone though," he finished on a shrug.

"Oh, I'll get on that," Andy said, grabbing his phone.

"Thank you, Rusty," she told him, letting him put the bag down on the side of her bed so she could look through the things in it.

"Glasses are on the way," Andy informed her, putting his phone away.

She gave him a slightly puzzled look, so he added, "We found them in the van."

"Oh," she let out in surprise. He had said earlier the van was a dead end, hadn't mentioned finding any of her belongings there. "Oh, my God, Andy!" she suddenly exclaimed, making both Andy and Rusty jump slightly at the unusually loud words.

"What?" he asked worriedly.

"Please, tell me you found my purse," she said, giving him a pleading look.

Both Rusty and Andy exchanged amused looks, instantly relaxing. "Women and their purses," he told Rusty.

"Mom, you can get a new purse," Rusty assured her, giving her a confused look, probably unsure of whether he should take her trivial worry as a good sign or a worrisome one.

"Oh, hush, the both of you," Sharon admonished, not the least bit amused by them. "I picked up our wedding bands during lunch break on Monday," she informed Andy pointedly.

Andy's eyes grew wide. He had completely forgotten even though she had told him where she was going when she went out of work that day.

Misreading his expression, she sighed in resignation. "You didn't," she said, resigned.

"What?" Andy was brought out of his stupor. "No," he told her, sounding quite panicky. "I mean," he started more calmly noticing the broken look on her face, "we found it, also in the van. It wasn't useful evidence and the FBI was kind enough to let us keep an eye on it." He smiled. "It's in your office on your desk and, although I haven't gone through it, nothing's missing from it, I think."

"Oh, thank goodness," she said in relief. "We're behind on this wedding as it is," she added, turning the ring on her right hand he had proposed to her with. She didn't know, but Andy had put it back on her finger when she was moved to her room, the nurses having removed it in preparation for her surgery.

"What?" Rusty asked incredulously. "You're in a hospital and still planning your wedding after," he paused for a moment, clearly lacking the right word for it, "all of that?" he finally finished, waving a hand at her.

"It's already planned out," she told him matter-of-factly. "We're now just a bit behind schedule."

"You still plan on getting married on Friday?" Rusty asked, giving her an incredulous look, neither him or her noticing Andy's sudden frown.

"I do," she confirmed, offering Andy a smile. Noticing his dark look then though, she asked, confused, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Andy waved her off, deciding to file that away for later, when they were alone and had more time to talk. He knew she would be on to him, but he changed the topic by pointing a hand at her bag. "Before you get married, would you like a shower?" he asked.

She narrowed her eyes ever so briefly at him. "As long as I'm allowed to and," she finally said and looked at her sling, "I get some help."

...

It was Andy who ended up helping her with her shower and getting dressed afterwards. She wasn't wobbly on her feet, but her shoulder did make both tasks somewhat difficult.

Rusty had taken that time to find Sharon some breakfast she would enjoy more than bland hospital food. When he returned, he found Sharon already back in bed but no longer in quite an unflattering hospital gown but, instead, in a set of her own comfortable, silk pajamas.

Instead of bringing breakfast, Rusty had brought Gus with him, and he in turn was carrying two plastic bags, its contents clearly Rusty's promised breakfast.

At the sight of him, Sharon forewent a greeting and said, "Oh, Gus, you really shouldn't have." If her tone of voice did not give away how touched she was by his gesture, her face certainly did.

"I know," Gus told her on a warm smile. "I wanted to," he added on a slightly cheeky smile, making Rusty roll his eyes at him.

"I asked him to come with me earlier, but he wanted to be more useful than this," Rusty said, waving a hand at himself.

"Well, thank you," Sharon told Gus, a heartfelt smile on her lips.

"I brought enough for the both of you," Gus said, giving Andy a quick look and walking toward Sharon's bed, already busy pulling out the contents of his bags.

Andy gave him a slightly wide-eyed look. "I don't even remember the last time I ate," he said, rather shocked by that fact. "I'm starving now though," he added, making Rusty and Gus laugh.

"Well, dig in then," Gus told him.

...

The rules that the nurse had bent earlier went completely out the window after breakfast.

Andy had received a text from Provenza asking if the Captain was up for a visit, and, after Sharon assured him she wouldn't mind, the entire team slowly filed into her room. Gus and Rusty had decided to make themselves scarce for a little while.

She laughed out loudly when she saw the pink "It's a girl!" balloon Provenza was carrying. "Thank you, Lieutenant," she told him, still smiling as he, without even asking for permission, attached the ridiculous thing to the foot of her bed.

"You're very welcome, Captain," Provenza told her awfully cheerfully, quite confidently, too, making Andy roll his eyes at him, even though he rather appreciated his partner's gesture.

The rest of them brought her some flowers and after exchanging a few more niceties, Sharon couldn't help but ask, "Andy told me the FBI has custody of our suspect?"

"That's right, Captain," Amy confirmed. She was standing at the foot of the bed next to Provenza.

"Agent Morris," Provenza started on an exaggerated eye roll, "said he'd stop by later in the afternoon to take your statement and to fill you in, Captain." Provenza gave her a pointed look as if telling her that the details could wait until then. "Apparently the guy spilled his guts and once we match the blood found near Flynn's car with his," he waved a hand, not finding it necessary to finish the sentence.

"Plenty of witnesses for last night, too," Julio added, a rather dark look on his face. He was standing to Amy's right.

Noticing it, Sharon asked, "What's wrong, Julio?"

Before he could answer, Buzz, standing opposite of Julio, said, "He's pouting, Captain."

Sharon gave him a confused look.

"I know you won't like me admitting it, Ma'am," Julio told her, just the faintest of amusement making its way onto his features now, "but I really wish I could've shot the bastard myself."

"You and me both, Julio" Mike, standing next to Buzz, suddenly said, sounding rather grim.

It made Sharon's head snap back to look at him. At her equally surprised and confused look, he shrugged. "We don't appreciate our own being targeted, Captain," he told her as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

That had Sharon look away and seek out Andy who stood closest to her, on her right. When he just grinned, quirking a cocky eyebrow at her and said, "We protect our own," she shook her head before addressing them all.

She had planned on saying more, but suddenly, feeling rather overwhelmed, all she managed to say was a thick, "Thank you."

"Nolan!" Provenza suddenly, rather sharply said, making not just the man in question jump but Sharon, too.

"What?" he asked, confused. He stood behind Buzz and Mike, easily towering over them.

At Provenza's unimpressed shake of his head, he suddenly realized what. "Oh, right," he said, pushing through Buzz and Mike. "Lieutenant Flynn asked for these, I believe," he told her, handing her not only her glasses but her purse and phone as well.

Sharon smiled, taking her glasses and phone from him, but letting Andy deal with her purse. "Thank you," she told him.

"Thank Chief Howard," Provenza said. "It was still technically evidence, but he talked the FBI into releasing it since they really add nothing to the case," he explained on a shrug.

"I will then," Sharon told him.

...

The team didn't stay long, since they had to go back to work, Howard having spared them only an hour.

When they left, Sharon finally went through her purse. "Here they are," she excitedly told Andy, sitting in a chair to her left again, as she pulled out their wedding bands.

Andy smiled, happy to confirm that they indeed did not need to get new rings made but, deciding that now was as good a time as any to address the matter, carefully asked, "About that?"

Her excitement instantly toned down, Andy's voice worrying her now. "What?" she asked, when he hesitated.

"You really still want to get married on Friday?" he finally asked. "After all of this?" he added, waving a hand at her in her bed, effectively encompassing the entire reason for her being in it at all.

"You don't?" she asked instead of offering a direct answer.

The aloof way in which she spoke was what made Andy ask in the first place. "I still want to marry you, of course," he assured her first. "But you've been through a lot, we both have, in these past, not even a couple of days." He was glad she didn't interrupt him and he could just go on with what was on his mind. "I don't want us getting married as planned, and we know it won't all go as planned," he indicated her sling with a pointed look, "to be a knee-jerk reaction after everything that's happened. Or because we worry something might get in the way again. You can still have a wedding exactly the way you planned it, it's okay if we just push it back a bit until you've healed."

He did not clarify that he meant both physical and emotional healing. Apart from her little breakdown in the middle of the night earlier, she was acting completely normal. Not counting the toll her exhaustion was obviously taking on her, she was holding it together as if her ordeal wasn't as terrifying or traumatic as it seemed. Of course, he did not expect her to turn into an emotional wreck either, this was Captain Sharon Raydor after all, but he worried that her otherwise lack of reaction meant she wasn't dealing with everything as well as she seemed to be. They had gone through something similar after the courthouse shooting. Only then she felt nothing, whereas now he was sure she felt more than she could handle or should be handling at the moment.

He now worried that she was jumping into their wedding instead of dealing with her kidnapping first, that she was worried or afraid that something else could turn the corner and derail their plans. He didn't worry that she would not want to marry him once it all sank in, or that she was using it to not deal with it at all, but he did worry that this major stepping stone for them might end up being tainted by what a sick bastard randomly decided to do to her. He didn't want her, or him for that matter, to later look back at their wedding day with this ordeal being at the forefront of that memory. That memory should be about them and their family and friends whom they'd share that day with. He did not want to share that memory with a kidnapper and a murderer. He wanted it all to be just as perfect as they originally planned it to be.

"But I _will_ have it, Andy," she told him softly. "You, me and our children being there is exactly how we planned it." On a lighter note she added, "Lieutenant Provenza, too."

It didn't make Andy smile. "But if you're only pushing for it now, because you're afraid-" he started.

"I _am_ afraid!" she suddenly exclaimed, interrupting and startling him. "I am so anxious, Andy. I worry that I'm dreaming, that I'm still tied up in that chair, and that I'll just wake up and that he'll be there again, and that I won't see you or my children again." She was speaking heatedly, so unlike the way she usually spoke. "Andy," she gave him a desperate look, "I see his face, I hear him, I think I even smell him, whenever the room goes quiet! I know that it will haunt me, it already does, and I know I'll need time to wrap my head around this. We both will. I'm not in denial about any of this. I will need help, I will want it, too, Andy." Then she shook her head and her voice suddenly went quieter, calmer, too. "I am not being irrational here. I don't want to go through our wedding on Friday because I'm afraid I'll wake up from a cruel dream, or to keep myself occupied enough to avoid the silence." She reached for his hand, her eyes almost pleading with his. "I want to because I love you, because I don't want to plan it all out again and _try_ to make it perfect or," she rolled her eyes, "because of my sense of occasion." She lifted their now joined hands. "This," she told him, lifting them again, "already _is_ perfect, Andy." She then added, as if having read his mind, "That's all I need, that's all I'll think about on Friday, that's all I'll care about and remember about it, too."

When her words sunk in, Andy's reaction was an almost violent one. He was half-way out of his chair, leaning towards her to clash his lips into hers, his free hand finding a way into her hair and, although she had no time to process what was happening and she was clearly taken off guard, it took her barely a second to respond to his heated kiss.

When they pulled apart, Andy now sitting at the edge of her bed, she rubbed her nose and said, sounding quite amused though, "Ow." They had clashed with their noses before Andy properly found her lips.

Andy laughed. "I'm sorry," he told her honestly, pecking the tip of her nose in apology, too. "Are you sure?" he asked her softly, having to make sure just one more time.

She smiled, squeezing his hand, of which she had not let go during the unexpected exchange. "I am, Andy. I'm not trying to avoid fate," she rolled her eyes, shook her head, too, "or running away from what happened. I just wa-"

"I love you," he interrupted her, not needing any more reassurance. He got these and her earlier words loud and clear. His heart ached for what she was going through, but it also swelled up knowing she had no qualms about admitting to any of it in front of him. "So much," he added thickly.

Under his intense gaze she teared up all of a sudden. "Oh, I know," she told him through a watery smile. "God!" she let out on almost a groan. "I _know_!" she repeated as if his words didn't quite cover what she knew he felt for her. She leaned into him, kissing him again. "I love you, too," she told him quietly, hovering in front of his face, her hand lingering on his cheek. "So much," she added.

He gave her a lopsided smile and kissed her again.

"You need to shave," she suddenly told him, rubbing a finger against his stubble, when he pulled back before their kiss could escalate into something neither one could really handle at the moment.

He grinned and rubbed two fingers over his chin. "I don't know," he told her, his voice going slightly higher with the obvious amusement in it. "I thought it'd look good on our wedding photos."

He started laughing when she shot him a bland look. She had never said anything, but he knew she appreciated him clean-shaven. His laugh was contagious though, and she suddenly found herself laughing, too. After everything that had happened, it was a much needed form of release, apparently.

That's how Rusty found them, when he returned, without Gus in tow. They were laughing.

He gave them a wide-eyed, worried look. "Are you alright?" he asked them as they tried to stop laughing.

Sharon hooked a thumb at Andy. "He needs to shave," she told her son not as seriously as she hoped she would.

That only made Rusty frown, sending Andy and Sharon into another fit of laughter. Deciding to ignore whatever suddenly had them in this mood, and that it was a good thing, Rusty said, walking closer to them, "Well, Andy, you _could_ use a shower _and_ a change of clothes."

The words made his mother laugh harder, but Andy sobered and gave him a bland look.

"You _should_ go home," Sharon managed to say, her laugh slowly ebbing away. Andy geared up to protest but she just pressed on and added, guessing what he would use as an excuse, "Rusty will stay," she gave her son a quick look and he immediately nodded in confirmation, "you go home, freshen up, call Nicole," she added the last part on a knowing look.

"Yeah, Andy, Gus is off to work, but I can babysit on my own for a while," Rusty assured him.

Andy chuckled, but Sharon shot Rusty an unimpressed glare. "I do not need a babysitter," she told him before turning her attention to Andy again. "Have you been to any meetings?" she asked him softly, sounding somewhat worried.

"No," Andy admitted. "But okay, I'll go. Home, shower, shave, change, call Nicole, AA meeting," he listed the tasks on feigned exasperation, even though she was right. He himself was slowly starting to think about doing all of that anyway.

"Thank you," Sharon said, smiling.

He smiled back and leaned toward her. "You do need a babysitter," he told her quickly, quietly so Rusty wouldn't hear, before pecking her on the lips and getting to his feet.

She shot him a halfhearted glare, not arguing since both knew that he was right.

"See you in a few hours," Andy told Rusty on his way out, then gave Sharon a pointed look. "Get some rest," he told her, knowing it had been a long, tiring morning for her.

"Take your time," Rusty replied, while Sharon said, "Don't worry, I will, I'm exhausted anyway."

With that, Andy walked out.

 **TBC**


	13. Chapter 13 - Distractions

**Chapter 13 - Distractions**

"Look who I found outside," Andy said, grinning as he entered Sharon's room, one boy on his arm, another one holding his hand.

"Grandma!" Joey yelled out at the sight of her, trying to get out of his grandfather's hold, while Ben, having only had to let go of Andy's hand, already walked away to reach her.

"Hi, grandma," he told her. He stopped right in front of her bed, but was careful not to touch it as if worried he might hurt the person sitting on it.

"Hi, you two," Sharon told them on a wide smile, giving Andy a surprised look, but pulling both boys into a one-armed hug. "Shouldn't you two be in school?" she asked, letting go of them.

"Grandpa picked us up early," Joey explained, shrugging.

"He asked mom if we could visit you," Ben added, lifting his head to look at Andy over the top of his head, since he had followed the boys to stand behind them and put a hand on each of their shoulders, "so she called our teacher to let us go a bit sooner."

"We thought it was a great idea," Joey said, swaying lightly on his feet to bump into Andy behind him.

Sharon's smile only widened. "Oh, I think so, too," she told them, giving Andy a knowing look. "Where's your mom though?"

The two boys looked around the room, then exchanged confused looks. "Er," Ben said, "I don't know."

"Grandpa said she's meeting us here," Joey said, a little frown forming on his face as he tried to untangle the mystery that was his missing step-mother.

Andy chuckled, squeezing their shoulders. "She went to grab us lunch, she'll be here in a few," he told them.

"Oh," both Ben and Joey let out. "I _am_ hungry," Ben added as if only just then realizing that.

"Starving," Joey confirmed.

"Well, food's on the way," Andy told them, letting go of their shoulders and rounding Sharon's bed. "Where's Rusty?" he asked as he dropped into the chair next to her.

"Restroom," Sharon replied. "You just missed him actually."

Andy only managed to nod, when, clearly not paying much attention to their exchange, Joey asked, "What happened?" He gently touched Sharon's sling.

"Grandpa said you got hurt?" Ben said, seeking confirmation for Andy's claim.

"Does it hurt?" Joey asked. "Oh," he then said, quickly pulling his hand away in case he was hurting her.

"Not anymore," Sharon told them. "You didn't hurt me either," she added, smiling warmly in reassurance at Joey.

"The dirtbag hurt you, right?" Ben asked, making Andy gasp.

"Ben!" he called out sharply.

"What?" Ben asked, giving him a puzzled look. "You said it was a dir-"

"Yes, yes, I did, you're right," Andy said loudly, getting the boy to stop talking. When Sharon laughed at him and his bad influence over the little man, he gave her a bland look and added, quieter now, "Just don't use that word in front of your mom and dad."

"What word?" Joey then asked. "Dirtbag?"

Andy just groaned and looked heavenward, making Sharon laugh again, while the boys exchanged confused looks.

"Oh," Joey said as it finally dawned on him. "That's another bad word, grandpa, isn't it?" he added, grinning smugly now.

Andy nodded. "It is," he confirmed on almost a groan.

"You know, grandpa, you should stop saying those words then," Ben told him seriously. "Or we'll just keep saying bad words even when we don't mean to!" He was shaking his head at the end of his little admonishment.

"You are absolutely right about that," Sharon told Ben, while Andy could only give him a look of utter disbelief.

"See," Ben told him. "Listen to grandma." He waved a hand at her.

"She's always right, you know?" Joey added in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

When Sharon, of course, laughed at that, Andy could only join her. "That she is," he agreed, shaking his head.

"Hey, look who I found," Rusty suddenly said, opening the door.

"Uncle Rusty!" Joey and Ben were on him before he could say much more.

"Careful," Nicole warned the boys, coming into view as they crashed into Rusty to give him a hug, "you'll knock him over."

"Don't worry about it," Rusty waved her off, feigning losing his balance for the boys' benefit.

Nicole shook her head at the trio, but walked over to Sharon. "Hello, Sharon, how are you?" she asked, putting the take out food down into one of the empty chairs.

"Much better now," Sharon told her, sweeping a look over the room.

"A hug won't hurt you?" Nicole asked, giving her shoulder a look.

In response, Sharon only pulled her into one.

When they pulled apart, she shot the boys, still all over Rusty, a quick look and said, "Thanks for the surprise."

"Oh, it was dad's idea, he said you could use some distraction," Nicole waved a hand through the air. More quietly, careful to not be overheard, she added, "They don't know exactly what happened, we didn't want them to worry," she gave Andy a quick look, who nodded, "so we only said it was a work-related injury."

Sharon gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you."

"Dad also said you might be hungry," Nicole said, effectively waving off her thanks again as she started digging through the contents of her bags.

"I might," Sharon confirmed, smiling.

"Hey, Andy?" Rusty asked, pointing his hands at the two boys using him as a toy. "I really should get to the airport, Emily and Ricky will be landing soon."

"Right," Andy got to his feet. He kissed his daughter's cheek on the way over to them, giving her a quick "Hi." When she smiled, he addressed his grandsons. "Ben, Joey, get over here, I thought you two were hungry," he told them, waving his hand in a circular motion to get them moving.

It got their attention and they let go of Rusty in search of food in their mother's bags.

"I'll be back soon," Rusty told Sharon, walking over to her bed to give her a quick hug. "I'm bringing them over here as soon as possible," he told her.

"Okay," she said. "Drive safely," she added before he could walk out.

They only heard his laugh in response, before the door behind him was shut closed.

"Dean and Charlie say hi, by the way," Nicole informed her, handing out the food she got them. They were both out of town on business, or else, as both Sharon and Andy knew, they'd have stopped by as well.

"They're coming back tomorrow, right?" Sharon asked, as she started eating.

"Yes, they made sure they would be for the wedding," Nicole said. "Although," she shrugged, "I guess, it doesn't really matter anymore," she added, somewhat ruefully.

"Oh, the wedding's still on," Andy told her, munching on a piece of vegetable he fished out of his paper container.

Nicole's eyebrows shot up, "Really?" Slightly flustered now, she added, "I mean, I just thought, with everything tha-"

"Oh, I thought so, too," Andy said, only adding to her surprise. "Apparently not even the slimiest of dirtbags can derail Sharon once she sets her mind to something," he added, giving his fiancee a rather impressed look.

Sharon offered him a warm smile but before she could add anything to the conversation, Ben interrupted.

"Grandpa!" he called out loudly.

Surprised by the boy's exclamation, Andy gave him a wide-eyed look. "What is it?" he asked while Nicole frowned at her oldest step-son's little outburst.

But Ben only focused on Sharon. "Does he ever listen to you?" he asked her, sounding rather exasperated all of a sudden.

Sharon started laughing again, having realized where his sudden agitation was coming from.

At Andy's still puzzled look, and Nicole's puzzled look now, too, Joey gladly explained, "You're using bad words again, grandpa." He shook his head at him in emphasis.

Now even Nicole laughed. "They did not pick up on something again, now did they, dad?" she asked him.

Andy rubbed a hand over his face. "Don't," he told her sarcastically, preempting any of her other smartass remarks. "It's not funny," he told Sharon.

"It is a little," Sharon argued, her laughter slowly dying down.

Joey however, frowned, his brother not looking too amused either. "You know, grandma, when _we_ don't listen," he pointed a hand at himself and his brother, "mom and dad never laugh."

"Yeah," Ben confirmed, rather unimpressed by her display. He shot Nicole a narrow-eyed look, then added, "They yell."

"Or worse, ground us," Joey added, the mere word sounding horrifying to him.

"Well, your grandpa is an adult so I can't ground him and I don't care much for yelling," Sharon told them seriously even though she was smiling a little.

Ben scoffed, stabbing his plastic fork rather forcefully into his vegetables. "You should change those rules," he told her.

"Why? So that you can ground grandpa?" Nicole asked, sounding rather amused.

"Of course not," Ben told her, taken aback by her apparently incredibly foolish suggestion. "So that you stop grounding _us_ , mom!" he told her heatedly.

"That's a good idea," Joey said, impressed as he nodded his head at his mother, supporting his brother's words.

Unfortunately, the adults in the room only laughed at it.

"Or you can start listening better," Nicole quipped, the words effectively deflating her two eager sons.

"I'll let you in on a little secret though," Sharon told the boys conspiratorially.

They perked up at that. "Yes?" Joey urged her on.

"I _can_ ground him at work," she told them on a wink.

"Ah-uh," Andy interjected, shaking a finger, while the boys and Nicole grinned. "Not true. She can only punish me for when I don't listen _at_ work, not for what I do _here_ ," he clarified.

Sharon shrugged, feigning resignation. "He's right," she told them on a sigh. "He must listen to me at work," she added, "everything else though," she trailed off, shaking her head.

"Is a discussion," Andy smugly finished for her, earning himself a laugh from Nicole and a bland look from Sharon.

The boys however, considered them for a moment in quiet. "So if you say the dirt-word at work," Ben finally started, "grandma grounds you?" he finished, giving his grandfather a wide-eyed look.

"Or yells at you?" Joey added, mirroring his brother's look.

"No, I'm allowed to use bad words at work," Andy told them, puffing his chest out proudly.

"Oh, but I think that's an excellent idea, you two," Sharon said, smiling somewhat wickedly at Andy. "Maybe I should change the rules at work, what do you say?" she asked them.

"Yes," both of them said, sending Nicole and Sharon into another fit of laughter.

Andy however let out an offended, "Hey, whose side are you on?"

The boys just snickered and replied simultaneously, "Grandma's!"

Andy shook his head at them, but had to smile at the laughter they sent Nicole and, more importantly, Sharon into again.

...

Nicole, Ben and Joey left right after they all ate their lunch, not wanting to intrude on Sharon and her children when they arrived. Sharon had tried assuring Andy's daughter that she was welcome to stay, but Nicole had made up her mind and had left with promises to drop by the next day, if she was released from the hospital, to give her a hand with the wedding that was still happening on Friday.

Andy had walked them to the door and when he closed it behind him, Sharon tapped the left side of her bed inviting him to sit down.

Not needing to be told twice, he immediately obliged. He turned towards her so that he could grab hold of her hand and put it on top of his thigh. "Hi," he told her, leaning down to quickly kiss her.

"Hi," she said in reply. "Thank you," she added.

"It wasn't too much for you?" he asked, somewhat worriedly.

"No," she assured him on a smile. "They _are_ exhausting," she added, "but it was lovely seeing them."

"Good," he said, nodding his head.

"Is that what Rusty's text was about?" Sharon then asked. Just before he decided he needed to use the restroom, he had received a text. She didn't think much of it at the time, now, however was an entirely different matter.

Andy grinned. "Maybe," he told her, the smirk on his face giving her an answer in the absolute affirmative though.

"Where's Rusty?" she mocked his earlier question, shaking her head.

"What?" Andy let out defensively. "I had to make it look good. Besides, you know how they get around him," he waved a hand through the air, "I had to get him out of the room."

She smiled. "I know," she said.

The two were always quite enthusiastic, but whenever Rusty was around their enthusiasm doubled. As was demonstrated to them a while earlier. It warmed her heart a little to see that Rusty didn't seem to mind. He had been a bit surprised by their energy when he first met them, but he had taken quite a liking to them early on. The liking only growing as they saw each other more often.

"You get some rest?" he asked, already knowing the answer, since he had asked Rusty for updates.

Sharon read him like a book. "Like you don't know," she told him teasingly.

Andy didn't even bother covering anything up. "Well, I'd like to hear it from you," he told her.

"I did, not much, but it'll have to do for now," she finally told him. "How about you?" She ran a hand down the side of his face. "You shaved, I see." She ran her hand down his shoulder and arm. "Changed, too."

"I did," he confirmed, grinning. "Talked to Nicole, called my sponsor, catching a meeting a bit later and I was working on a little something for you, but that's a secret," he informed her, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"You're full of surprises, aren't you?" she asked, shaking her head in amusement.

"That I am," he confirmed smugly. He changed the topic before she could start grilling him about his current one. "Have you talked to the doctor again? Or a nurse?"

"The doctor's coming in later to check on me, he's off the clock at the moment, to decide whether to release me tonight or not," Sharon replied. "The nurse said it looked all good for now and that somebody will come by later to get rid of these," she pointed to the tubes still attached to her, "but she's not too impressed about the number of visitors I'm having," she added.

"Great," Andy told her eyeing her IV as well. "I don't see them complaining," he added, looking at the door as if a nurse would walk through it to do just that.

"You wouldn't," Sharon told him, suddenly sounding somewhat amused. "Apparently, an old, grumpy Lieutenant flashed his badge and threw around some threats earlier this morning."

Andy chuckled. "I can always count on Provenza," he said, nodding his head, more than happy about his partner's little stunt.

"To throw rules out the window?" Sharon asked, although she still sounded rather amused.

"Exactly," Andy quipped.

The door burst open before Sharon could reply, startling them, her two oldest children practically running inside, a relieved, "Mom!" on their lips.

"Oh, Emily, Ricky," Sharon let out excitedly. She pulled them each into a clumsy hug due to her shoulder. When they made a move to let go, she only tightened her hold on them. "Not yet," she mumbled. "I missed you," she added.

When she was finally ready to let go of them, she noticed another person standing in the room. "Oh, hello, I thought you were not coming till Friday morning!" she told him, extending her healthy arm to pull him into a hug as well.

"Well, I got plenty of overtime and thought I'd join Emily today already," Ethan told her. "It's really good to see you, Ma'am," he added as they pulled apart.

Sharon laughed. "Sharon, Ethan." She shook her head. "Call me Sharon."

"Right, Sharon," Ethan shook his head at himself. "I'll try," he promised.

"How are you, mom?" Emily asked, carefully taking a seat on the side of Sharon's bed, doing a fine job of ignoring her boyfriend in the process.

Andy slid off the bed, so that Ricky could take his place on Sharon's other side. "Yeah, mom," he looked pointedly at her shoulder, "he did that to you?" he asked.

"I'm fine, they fixed me up," she assured them. At their unimpressed looks, she admitted, "Shaken up a bit, yes," she pinned Rusty, who had made his way to the foot of her bed with a look, "but I'm so much better with you here now."

"Andy asked us not to come," Emily said.

"Or else we'd have been here yesterday," Ricky added.

"No," Sharon interjected before they could go on, their tones of voices holding the faintest trace of an accusation. "I'm glad you didn't, you'd just have been another thing to worry about," she told them.

Ricky shook his head. "That's what Rusty said."

Rusty grinned. "Was I wrong?" he asked in response.

"You really okay, mom?" Emily asked worriedly, ignoring her brothers, her eyes sweeping over her mother's form, fortunately not seeing her needle marks but not missing those left on her throat by the taser or her faint ligature marks around her wrists.

"I am, honey," Sharon grabbed ahold of her daughter's hand and gave it a firm squeeze. She would, of course, be sparing her children of the details of her ordeal and everything she would probably still have to deal with.

Emily hugged her again. "I was so worried," she mumbled thickly into her hair. "The idea of you-" she started, pulling away again, but not managing to finish her sentence as tears finally spilled out of her.

"I know, I know," Sharon pulled her back into her embrace. "I didn't like that idea either, honey," she mumbled into her daughter's hair.

When Sharon looked past Emily's hair and saw the teary-eyed look on her oldest son, she lifted her hand, inviting him into her hug as well. When he instantly wrapped his arms around both of them, it started tugging painfully on her shoulder, but that pain was much more manageable than the one that went through her at the sight of them so worried.

"I'm here now, I'm not going anywhere, okay?" she told them soothingly.

They only held on to her more tightly so she asked again, "Okay?"

This time they finally pulled away, wiping the tears off their faces. "Okay," they both mumbled, sounding nothing like the adults they had grown into and sounding every bit the little kids they used to be decades ago.

When Rusty suddenly sniffed, apparently holding back a sob, surprisingly, it was Ricky who reacted first and reached for his hand, pulling him, into a, probably uncomfortable, hug over the foot of Sharon's bed.

They pulled apart when Andy's phone suddenly went off. "Sorry," he said reaching for it quickly, already walking to the door. "Provenza," he muttered on his way out.

"You alright?" Sharon asked all three of her children, not minding Andy's interruption.

"We're supposed to be worrying about _you_ , mom," Ricky told her.

"And cheering _you_ up, not the other way around," Emily added.

"Oh, she's been doing that all day," Rusty assured them, a touch of humor to his words now that he had managed to pull himself together.

"You know, I really don't know why it's so surprising," Ricky said, shaking his head.

"Yeah," Emily agreed, catching his drift. "She is a-"

"Mother, after all," Rusty finished for her on an eye roll.

"That I am," Sharon confirmed. "It'll take more than a kidnapper to keep me from worrying about you three," she added on an affectionate smile.

"Okay," Emily's tone of voice made it clear she was about to change the topic. "So what is this I hear about you still getting married in two days?" she asked her mother.

"I am, and you're all still invited," Sharon confirmed on a warm smile.

"What about your sho-" Emily started but was interrupted by Andy re-entering the room.

He offered all four of their guests an apologetic shrug. "Sharon," he gave her a look, "Provenza said he and Morris were on their way to take your statement. I tried fending them off, but-"

"They've bent the rules as much as they could, I know," Sharon said. Under less privileged circumstances, Sharon knew the FBI would have been there to take her statement the moment she was lucid enough to make one.

"Statement?" Ricky asked puzzled.

It was Ethan who explained. "As the victim, your mom will be asked to give her account of things."

"Oh," Ricky let out.

"You up for that?" Andy asked Sharon a bit worriedly, walking to her bed again.

"Well, whether I am or not, I'm getting it out of the way now," Sharon told him, shrugging her healthy shoulder.

"You're also itching to find out what the guy said, right?" Andy asked, giving her a knowing look, as he dropped into his chair again.

"Well, yes, especially since your partner couldn't be bothered with filling me in, or you for that matter," Sharon had no problem admitting to it. "I would also like to know what my kidnapper's motive was, wouldn't you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, me, too," Andy immediately agreed, ignoring the looks being exchanged between the rest of the room's visitors. "Only I'd forgo that if they'd let me knock the daylight out of him." He scowled and added more menacingly, "Permanently."

Andy's sentiment clearly did not surprise Sharon and instead of offering him a response, she addressed her visitors. "I'm afraid I'll have to do this on my own." She sounded apologetic.

Ricky shot Andy a look, but when he said, "It's only protocol." he said, "Okay, we'll wait outside then when they get here."

"No," Sharon gently disagreed.

In support, Andy suggested, "Go home, unpack, we'll let you know when we're done."

"Yes, that would be great," Sharon said. "You haven't seen the house yet, anyway," she added on a more optimistic note.

"True," Emily confirmed, although she didn't look ready to leave so soon.

"I'll call you, guys, don't worry," Andy assured them, noticing not only her reluctance, but Ricky's slight frown, too.

Both of them finally nodded so Rusty said, "I'll give you a ride then." He knew, just like Ricky and Emily probably did, that the real reason their mother wanted them to leave was so that they did not accidentally overhear anything she thought they shouldn't know. Arguing would have been pointless.

When they finally did leave, Sharon reached for Andy's hand. When she entwined their fingers together, she said, "You stay with me." It wasn't a question.

She had already recounted her story once, but it did not surprise Andy that she wasn't looking forward to going through it again, and probably with a lot more additional questions than he had had when she woke up in the middle of the night.

"I do listen to you, you know?" he told her, his voice a bit lighter than what the change in her mood probably called for.

She raised an eyebrow in askance.

He met her raised eyebrow with one of his own. "You said not to let go of you." He squeezed her hand. "Well, I won't. Don't worry."

 **TBC**


	14. Chapter 14 - Who Kidnapped Sharon?

**Chapter 14 - Who Kidnapped Sharon?**

Morris and Provenza arrived about 20 minutes later.

Morris seemed quite uncomfortable with having to treat Sharon as a victim, even though, by all standards, she was exactly that. Sharon wasn't too keen on rehashing it all either. Not only because she'd much rather just put the whole ordeal behind her, but also because she had always kept a tight lid on sharing her life with outsiders, especially its private sphere, and even when she had to do so, it most certainly was not in a pair of pajamas.

To his credit, Morris had not asked unnecessary questions, and much of what Sharon told him ended up being what she had already told Andy. Having no recollection of any events leading up to her waking up in that motel room after being knocked out, there wasn't much she could really offer apart from describing how sickeningly attentive her kidnapper had been. Morris did seem to have expected to hear more from her, but given the short amount of time Sharon had ultimately been held captive in comparison to the other victims, it really wasn't surprising that Sharon had less to say than perhaps anticipated. He had, however, been quite impressed when he found out that Sharon was the reason why their suspect had left the room, and he had told her as much.

"So, may I now know who it is that you arrested?" Sharon asked him, once there was nothing more to add to her side of the story.

Sharon had been sitting on the side of her bed, shoulder to shoulder with Andy. She recounted her story hiding carefully behind her rank's mask, and, while Andy did not have to literally hold on to her during her statement, the fact that she threw professional distance out the window was a clear indicator of how challenging it was for her to go through it all again. Both Provenza and Morris had remained standing in front of them while Morris took her statement, but when she posed her question, Morris dropped his, until then, purely professional act and sat down on a chair in front of her bed, Provenza taking the one next to it.

"Honestly, the guy's a nut job," Morris told her, visibly relieved to either be sharing the information with Sharon or to have arrested the guy in the first place.

"Tell us something we don't know," Andy muttered.

Morris nodded knowingly. "Well, for starters, his name is Martin Dane, he's 43 and from Cedar Cit-"

"Martina!" Sharon suddenly said. "Martina Dane," she elaborated, giving Andy a wide-eyed look, "that's his mother's name!"

"Told you it might come back to you," Andy told her on a smile.

"Yeah, sorry for not mentioning that earlier," Morris said, shrugging guiltily. Sharon had, of course, mentioned her kidnapper talking about his mother and once again she had complained about not remembering her name, but, not wanting to influence her account of things, he had kept the names to himself until now. "He's been quite obsessed with her, so no wonder he talked to you about her."

"Where is she? Have you reached out to her?" Sharon asked, a bit of empathy to her words, one probably only brought about by the fact of being a mother herself.

"She died, about 2 months ago," Morris told her.

"And not soon after, he started on his little rampage," Provenza added, tilting his head knowingly.

"And let me guess, she looked like Sharon?" Andy asked, rolling his eyes.

"Bingo," Provenza told him, pointing a finger at him.

"Nutjob's an understatement," Andy muttered. "Seeking out your mother's lookalikes to kill them? What the hell?"

"We've had worse cases," Morris said matter-of-factly. "But that's about right. We had him evaluated, he's got some schizophrenic tendencies, seems bipolar, too. He was alternating between spewing hate about her and practically writing odes to her."

"So he was killing out of hate for his mother, but was all," Sharon flailed her hands instead of finding the right word, "too, out of love for her?" she asked, frowning slightly.

"Something like that, only in that case you'd expect a trigger," Morris explained. "You know, for the rage to kick in," he added on a shrug.

"And he was working on a schedule," Andy said, catching the agent's train of thought.

"Yes, and that's why it's interesting to know how and when his mother died," Morris told them.

"Had a stroke," Provenza chipped in, not being in the mood for the sudden theatrics Morris started getting into, "died on the fourth day of her hospital stay."

"Wait, you mentioned this morning," Sharon turned to Andy, "that you suspected he had medical training?"

"Oh," Andy's eyebrows shot up. "He's not a doctor, is he?" he asked Morris.

"Used to be a nurse," Morris corrected. "Right up until his mother died. He quit his job then, buried her and went off the grid."

"Wow," Andy said, not sounding impressed but rather disgusted. "They let him take care of her in the hospital?" he asked, surprised.

Morris shrugged, "Not really policy, but yeah, he was one of the nurses attending to her at the time."

"But wasn't with her on the day she died," Provenza added meaningfully.

"Yeah," Morris confirmed, nodding. "He said he, and I quote here, never got the chance to say goodbye."

"And he told you all of this on his own?" There was a touch of disbelief in Sharon's tone of voice.

"He's crazy," Morris said simply, his voice going higher with the utter absurdity of it all. "The moment we started interrogating him, he burst into tears and spilled his guts. We barely had to ask any questions. He told us his entire life story practically entirely on his own. Waved his right to an attorney, too." He sounded still amazed by that particular turn of events.

"But took off running when he saw us?" Andy asked blandly.

Morris shrugged. "Well, he, and I'm quoting him again, panicked." He put air quotation marks around the last word.

Both Provenza and Andy scoffed. "Typical," Andy said, rolling his eyes.

"So how planned out was it?" Sharon asked.

"Well, he was careful enough to switch vehicles, avoid cameras and he did not use his real name, but, for example, going from smaller to bigger places was completely coincidental," Morris replied.

"How so?" Andy asked, while Sharon just intently listened.

"His mommy and him made yearly trips this time of the year," Provenza answered sarcastically. "Through Utah, Arizona, California," he listed off. "Their final stop would have been Las Vegas, Nevada, before heading back home."

"They've done this trip at least a dozen times," Morris added.

"And they always picked out crappy motels to stay in?" Andy asked, disbelief evident.

"Not always," Morris replied. "But enough times to know where they were and how to find them."

"And considering how you managed to get him to leave your room, Captain," Provenza said, looking at her, "he never planned ahead enough in terms of basic necessities."

"So he was stupid and smart at the same time?" Andy asked, but the words were more of a statement.

Morris let out a bitter chuckle. "It would seem so," he agreed. "He did not stake out his victims either, so his approach did rely on opportunity and chance, so there's that, too," he added. "But considering that he kept driving stolen vehicles," he shrugged, "he certainly went out in hopes of finding somebody that would fit his bill."

"He's even told them," Provenza tilted his head towards Morris, indicating that 'them' was the FBI, "what cars and vans he was driving." He gave Sharon and Andy an unimpressed look of disbelief.

"And where he's dumped them," Morris added on another shrug. "We're still checking that out, but we've already found the van he was driving in Utah."

An incredulous "Wow." was all Andy managed to let out, making his partner give him a look that said, "I know, right?"

"He was remorseful," Sharon suddenly said.

Provenza and Morris offered her confused looks in response, but Andy filled in the gaps, understanding what she meant. "You don't pour out your soul like that if you didn't feel at least a little bit guilty," he shrugged before adding, "or dispose of your victims that neatly if you don't care about them."

"Or the one they resembled," Morris amended, nodding now as he caught on.

"Well, how about not killing them at all?" Provenza retorted sarcastically, their culprit's remorse apparently doing little to make him worthy of any kind of compassion in his book.

Andy just rolled his eyes and, suddenly reminded of another tidbit, asked, "Your files said something about him liking nature? How good was your guess?"

"Apparently, both him and his mother were the outdoorsy type," Morris told him as he took a breath. "He has no siblings, no wife, no kids. So they've spent a worrying amount of time together, trekking, picnicking and the likes," he added, grimacing.

"But he still chose the parks at random then?" Andy asked, referring to the fact that the park closest to the motel they found him in, was definitely not one of the more popular spots in the city.

"Well, no," Morris said and, at Andy's puzzled look, he explained. "While we were wrong about popular parks being part of his pattern," he said this somewhat sheepishly, "he did not choose them at random. Those were all parks his mother and him visited whenever they drove by. That's how he knew about the nearby motels, too."

"So there was no way to predict his next move then," Andy said, swallowing as he realized just what that could have meant for their search for Sharon. Unless they had somehow found out his name and in turn found someone who knew a little something about him, he really couldn't think of any other way of getting into their suspect's head in that case.

"Yeah," Morris admitted somewhat sadly. He then addressed Sharon. "As much as I'd love to take credit for finding you, if it weren't for that call, Captain," he said, shaking his head, "we-"

"We'd have still turned the city upside down to find you," Provenza, sounding slightly agitated all of a sudden, said, interrupting him.

The words had Andy nodding, as if reassuring himself that they not only would search the entire city, but that they would also manage to find her in time.

Sharon offered a small smile and said, "I know, Lieutenant." She nodded, too.

For a few moments they lapsed into a heavy silence, the dark what-if hanging over their heads. Morris was just about to finally say something and lift it, when Sharon beat him to it.

"He called me feisty," she said, somewhat bitterly, even though there was a touch of wonder to the words. They had Andy's eyebrows shoot up. Provenza seemed surprised, too.

Morris however, nodded. "Doesn't surprise me, Captain. You fought back, you messed up two of his toes back in that parking garage," he told her on an impressed smile. "He obviously still could take off running when the adrenaline kicked in, but he complained about it hurting like a bitch," he put air quotation marks around the last four words. "He didn't seem angry with you though. He actually seemed to be in awe of your accomplishment." The face he pulled made it clear that he himself was in awe about it.

"Accomplishment?" Sharon repeated blandly before she could catch herself, raising an incredulous eyebrow at him. What accomplishment? He still managed to overpower her and kidnap her.

"You may not have managed to completely fight him off, Captain," Provenza was the one to speak up, as if having read her thoughts, "but you did put up one hell of a fight," he told her, giving her a long, hard look.

"He's right, Sharon," Andy said in support of his partner, looking at her. "The guy's taller than Nolan, much more buff, and you still nearly had him."

Sharon only nodded in response, not taking much comfort in those facts.

Deciding to move the conversation along, Morris shrugged and said, "Apparently, his mother was a fighter, too. He told us that," he suddenly hesitated for a moment and looked over at Provenza, but he just rolled his eyes, "of all his victims, you resembled her the most."

That had her scoff. And again, she failed to catch herself so she sarcastically said, "How flattering!"

The grim look on her face that accompanied her words made Andy bump her shoulder lightly. He could tell her control was slightly slipping and that, under normal circumstances, she would have kept these retorts to herself. "He won't be looking for any more fighters though," he told her optimistically, hoping to steer her thoughts to more positive conclusions.

"Exactly, Captain," Provenza added in support. "We've put an end to his sick cycle."

"Speaking of cycle," Andy looked at Morris again, saving Sharon from having to offer a response and giving her a moment to try to collect herself. "This fits your profile then," Andy added, mentally going over the FBI's notes. "There's your scenario. He took care of his mother for four days only for her to die anyway."

"Yeah, that's what he's kind of been replaying," Morris confirmed, nodding. "Killing them on his own schedule in order to say goodbye, too."

"What a way to work off your frustrations," Provenza muttered, shaking his head.

"And speaking of scenarios," Sharon started, having apparently managed to shake off her earlier darker thoughts, "I understand why he would strangle his victims. It certainly is a personal way of taking someone's life," a small crease formed between her eyebrows as she considered that, "but why show off your method by using that nickname, even if it was in another language? How does that fit?" She finished finally giving both Morris and Provenza an expectant look.

"That was something not even he could tell us," Morris admitted somewhat begrudgingly. "His mother was German, however. Married an American. So that explains why he stuck to that particular language. But when we asked why not use something less obvious, considering he was otherwise rather careful, he simply said that it had seemed like a good idea at the time."

"The guy's all over the place," Andy mumbled.

"Yeah," Morris agreed. "But after that tip for the Phoenix motel," he shrugged, "it didn't really matter what name he used, as long as he stuck with it."

Both Sharon and Andy nodded, silently agreeing.

"You said he waved his right to an attorney?" Sharon asked, just to make sure. When Morris nodded, she added, "Are you taking him to trial?"

With the way she asked, she might as well have been inquiring about the weather, but the words made Andy tense up all of a sudden. As much as he'd like to see the scumbag on death row, he'd rather not have to go through a long trial to get him there.

"Well," Morris started somewhat tentatively, "I personally, think that, as crazy as the guy is, the death penalty is warranted. It's an open-and-shut case." He listed off his reasons on his fingers, "We've got his confession, we're rounding up his vehicles, checking up on the motels he told us about, not to mention the blood found near your car," he added that last part while giving Andy a look. "But we also understand that taking him to trial would probably mean you having to take the stand." He grimaced slightly at his next words, "With you being the only surviving victim and all."

"Nothing's decided yet, Captain," Provenza added quickly. "It's up to you. If you're prepared to go through all this crap again, for God knows how many times, they'll go to trial, if not, they're offering life without parole." Judging by the tone of his voice he was sharing Andy's private and Morris's spoken sentiments. The guy deserved to be put on death row, but not at the expense of Sharon having to go through the ordeal that can be the life of a witness. "The guy's hoping for a deal though." He exchanged a quick look with Morris, who nodded.

Sharon, however, said nothing for a moment. Instead she sought out Andy's eyes, not asking for anything else, but his quiet reassurance. When he raised an eyebrow at her and nodded, she knew it meant that whatever she decided, he would support her decision.

She shook her head. "No," she said firmly. "I can't speak for the other victims and their families," her voice softened somewhat, "and maybe they will disagree with me, but I will not go to trial." She smiled ruefully. "Give him his deal. I will not relive all of this for months or even years just to get my revenge on him."

That had Andy give her a surprised look. "So you'd like to send him to the next world, too, huh?" He sounded rather impressed.

She rolled her eyes, but then gave them all a somewhat guilty look and said, "Not to the next world, but Mike and Julio are not the only ones who would have liked to shoot the _dirtbag_." On that last word, she gave Andy a pointed look.

"Join the club then," Provenza muttered, while Andy just grinned at her.

"Okay then," Morris said, getting to his feet. "I think that's all I can tell you, Captain," he told Sharon.

"Thank you," Sharon said, thanking him for taking her statement himself and letting her in on who the culprit was, but being grateful for having helped find her, too.

Morris nodded. "I'm glad we found you, Captain," he told her, waving off her thanks. On a much lighter note, he added, "It's much less challenging working with you than with," he trailed off, giving the two lieutenants in the room a quick look.

Sharon smiled. "So I've been told," she said, glancing at her lieutenants as well.

"We've been on our best behavior," Provenza told her proudly.

"Exactly," Andy agreed, smirking.

"I'm sure," she quirked an eyebrow at them. "Only, your best behavior still requires quite a bit of patience," she told them, giving Morris a knowing look.

He laughed. "Something like that, Captain." He started walking toward the door. "I hope the next time we see each other, _you_ will not be my case," he told her, shaking his head.

She smiled. "Me, too."

With one last nod toward Andy and Provenza, Morris left.

"I gotta hit my meeting," Andy then said, checking the time. "Want me to call the kids?" he asked Sharon as he got to his feet.

"I'd like a word with my second in command, actually," Sharon said, looking at Provenza, still sitting in the chair in front of her.

"Why?" Provenza asked, suddenly going on the defensive.

"Would you mind?" Sharon asked in response, giving him a slightly bemused look.

He narrowed her eyes at her, but finally looked heavenward and said, "I can spare a few minutes, I guess."

"Thank you," she told him politely.

"So," Andy started at length, looking between them, an eyebrow raised, "I-"

"Just go, I'll be fine," Sharon assured him, interrupting him as she waved a hand at him.

Still a bit puzzled, Andy finally gave in and just said, "Okay," kissed her cheek in goodbye, threw his partner a "See you later." and left.

"If you don't mind, I'll just lie down again first," Sharon told Provenza. She was tired and she had a feeling that whatever her abductor pumped into her was still wreaking havoc on her systems.

"Sure," Provenza mumbled, quite understandingly actually. "Need any help?" he offered.

She just waved him off and shook her head, leaving him to just patiently wait for her to settle in.

"First of all," Sharon said, after finally finding a comfortable position somewhere in between lying down and sitting, "I want to-"

"He's kept it together remarkably well," Provenza interrupted her, knowing she'd thank him, but that that was not why she really wanted to talk to him.

She did not try pretending not to know what, or rather who, he was talking about. "He has?" she asked, the thinning of her voice giving away her worry.

"Bit a few heads off, I think, including mine," Provenza said on a chuckle, then tilted his head, "but yeah, he has," he added more seriously. "Handled your kids, too," he added. "All three of them."

She nodded, looking absentmindedly in front of her.

"Something on your mind, Captain?" Provenza asked.

She looked at him, rather wide-eyed. "Everything," she said, a bit of irony to the smile she offered.

He rolled his eyes and sighed. For a second he considered asking what exactly 'everything' was, but deciding to change the topic instead, he finally said, "Patrice sends get well wishes, by the way."

"Thank you," Sharon replied, smiling more warmly now.

"She'd have stopped by actually," Provenza said, more relaxed now, "but she assumed you'd be surrounded by visitors anyway, so..." Provenza let his shrug finish his sentence.

"It _is_ quite busy here," Sharon said, sweeping a satisfied look over the room, even though at the moment only Provenza was keeping her company.

"Keeps _you_ busy, too, huh?" Provenza said, guessing where her apparent contentment was coming from.

"It does," Sharon admitted, her voice going slightly higher.

When she did not elaborate, he jumped to another topic. "So Andy texted me that the wedding's on again?" he asked.

"Oh," she shook her head and gave him a serious look, "it was never off in the first place."

Provenza chuckled. "Nothing ever gets in the way of your sense of occasion, does it?"

She laughed and quirked an eyebrow innocently. "No, I don't think so."

"Well, you'll be glad to hear then," Provenza started on a smirk, "that our division got Friday afternoon off."

"Really?" she sounded genuinely surprised, her wide smile giving away just how glad the news made her feel.

Provenza shrugged. "We may have done some grovelling with Howard," he admitted.

"I'm out of commission for 2 days and you turn everything upside down, Lieutenant," she said, shaking her head in halfhearted admonishment.

"Well, you know the saying, when the cat's away," he paused to shrug, "the mice will play," he told her, openly grinning now.

"I had hoped I'd have rubbed off on you at least a little bit by now," Sharon said as she put the back of her hand over her mouth to keep her chuckle at bay.

"Oh, you have," Provenza assured her without hesitation, "just not enough." He laughed. "Can't speak for Flynn though, he's a lost cause now."

She laughed too. "Is that why he only bit a few heads off?" she asked on a more serious note.

"Yeah," Provenza let out an exaggerated groan. "Something about our Captain not appreciating FID on our case in the middle of all this mess," he added, shaking his head.

"Oh, I most certainly wouldn't have, Lieutenant," she confirmed, laughing again.

"Like I said," he muttered, "lost cause."

"I am grateful, Lieutenant," Sharon told him, as she came down from her laughter. "For finding me, for taking care of Rusty." She nodded toward the door. "For keeping Andy in check."

"Don't mention it," Provenza waved her off. "Andy wasn't lying when he said we protect our own."

"I know," she told him, again just as moved by the words as she had been that morning when she first heard them.

"I should get going," Provenza suddenly said, getting up. "I am on duty technically."

"You should, we've bent enough rules for now, I think," Sharon agreed, giving him a pointed look.

Provenza rolled his eyes. "He told you about that, huh?" he asked, knowing she was referring to his current medical clearance, or rather, the lack of it.

The quirk of an eyebrow was his answer. "Have you rescheduled your test?" she asked softly, a bit of worry seeping into her voice, wanting to know both as his superior officer and as his friend.

"I'll be attached to a blood pressure monitor for 24 hours, starting Saturday, Captain," he informed her in the most insincere professional voice he could probably muster.

She smiled. "Good," she told him.

He just shook his head. "You want me to call Rusty?" he then asked, already busy fishing his phone out of his pocket.

"No need, I'm sure they'll be here in a few minutes," Sharon told him. "Maybe they're already standing guard," she added at Provenza's puzzled look.

He simply shook his head, amused all of a sudden. "Flynn called them anyway?" he asked over an impressed look as he put his phone away.

She shrugged her healthy shoulder. "According to your standards, he's not a _lost cause_ outside of the murder room, I think," she told him on a smirk.

Provenza only laughed, making his way to the door. He turned around though before opening it. "I'm glad we're attending a wedding instead of a funeral, Sharon," he told her solemnly.

She gave him a long, almost absentminded look. "As am I, Lieutenant, as am I," she said.

 **TBC**

* * *

I hope this made sense and that there aren't any gaping plot holes.


	15. Chapter 15 - Can I Go Home?

**Chapter 15 - Can I Go Home?**

Sharon had been right. Of course, Andy had called the kids anyway and, of course, they, including Ethan, were there within minutes.

They were with her for maybe five minutes when a nurse came in, offering Sharon's visitors an unimpressed look. She however, seemed to decide not to comment on it and politely addressed Sharon. "I think we can disconnect this now," she told her, pointing to the see-through bag that by now was almost completely empty, its content having been successfully pumped into Sharon.

"Oh, finally," Sharon said relieved and grateful. She felt tired but she asked, hoping for an affirmative answer, "Will I be allowed to go outside? I've been cooped up in here all day."

The nurse smiled, already busy removing the tube from her arm, "Yes, some fresh air will do you good. Should be easier without having to roll this around, too." She tapped the stand next to the bed. "And I see you have plenty of people to keep an eye on you," she added, giving the visitors a friendlier look this time.

Sharon followed her look and smiled broadly. "I certainly do," she confirmed proudly.

...

" _Where_ is Sharon Raydor?" They heard Andy bark the question at a nurse in front of him.

Before the woman could offer an answer, Sharon called out, "Andy!"

He instantly whirled around to look at her. Instead of addressing her, however, he took a few steps forward and growled his words at Rusty. "Did I not tell you to tell me where you are or go?"

Rusty's eyes went wide. "Oh," he mumbled, "sorry, I forgot," he admitted guiltily.

"Andy," Sharon repeated a bit more sharply. When she got his attention, she said, "We just went out for some fresh air." She then pointed at her right arm. "I'm no longer attached to an IV," she added on a happier note.

Andy still shot Rusty an angry look, but when he spoke, his look softened and he was back to his regular tone of voice. "That's great," he said. "You tired?" he asked, concerned that she had overexerted herself.

"Exhausted," Sharon admitted, giving Ethan and Ricky a guilty look.

Ricky was pushing an empty wheelchair. "We noticed," he told Andy, sounding rather unimpressed with his mother's behavior.

"She wouldn't hear of sitting down though," Ethan added, shrugging.

"Emily's more comfortable," Sharon said in a lame attempt at humor, leaning into her daughter's shoulder briefly. They stood next to each other, arms locked.

Emily only shook her head at her mother's stubbornness.

"Really?" Andy shot Sharon a bland look and his voice went suspiciously high. He paused to ask Emily to take over. She moved aside, letting him wrap an arm around her mother, to support her, whether she needed it or not. "You know," he smirked and his voice went up again, "if you fall and break something, you'll be here even longer."

Sharon laughed, the reaction planting confused looks on their company's faces. "Unlike you, I have had no balance issues," she told him mockingly, "I am simply tired."

"Sure," he muttered sarcastically, leading her back toward her room.

"Say mom," Emily stopped them before they could walk through the door, "are you going to be okay without us?" she asked pointing at her brothers and boyfriend behind and next to her now.

Sharon looked at her, briefly narrowing her eyes at her. "Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"You are," Emily decided, smiling when Andy held back a chuckle at that, earning himself an unimpressed glare from her mother. "We'll stop by later if you're not released, but otherwise, see you at home." She took a couple of steps to reach her and kissed her cheek.

"What are you up to?" Sharon asked, giving all four of them a long look, but stopping to look at Rusty the longest.

"Uh-uh," he lifted his hands up in surrender. "My lips are sealed," he told her.

"Don't worry, mom," Ricky told her, giving her a kiss, too.

"Well, now I have to," Sharon muttered, making Andy next to her chuckle.

"I'm a police officer, Sharon," Ethan said, smiling. "I'll keep it all legal," he added, his smile turning smug.

She glared at him, halfheartedly at best. "I'm not sure I like you anymore," she told him seriously, but her smile rendered her words untrue. Emily's laugh didn't help either.

"Come on," Andy squeezed her side. "Bed," he ordered quietly.

She rolled her eyes. "And of course you know what this is about," she said sarcastically.

Andy looked at the four young people in front of him and laughed. "I don't," he told Sharon, seemingly unfazed by being kept out of the loop.

When the four started laughing, too, effectively confirming Andy's words, Sharon sighed in resignation. "I'm too tired for this," she mumbled.

"Well, go to bed then," Rusty told her, giving her a quick kiss, too. "See you at home," he added.

"Fine," she finally relented, watching her children and Ethan walk down the corridor and out of view before finally agreeing to step back into her room.

"So what was that all about?" Sharon asked once she was settled in bed and Andy was seated in one of the chairs next to it.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Rusty," she clarified simply.

It made Andy frown, but he shrugged it off. "Nothing, I just didn't know where you were," he told her.

At the matter-of-fact tone of his voice, Sharon gave him a long, searching look. She was clearly not the only one reeling from everything. Deciding not to prod and to just leave it alone, since she herself did not feel like taking the recent events apart, she softly asked, "Join me?" She scooted to the right side of her bed to make room for him again like she had done the previous night, too.

This time, he didn't hesitate and crawled into the bed, wrapping himself around her, right away. "Get some rest, Sharon," he told her quietly.

"You, too," she told him, snuggling into his shoulder and closing her eyes.

...

The lights coming on woke them a few hours later. When they opened their eyes, Sharon only barely lifting her head at the intrusion, they were met by the rather amused-looking faces of her doctor and a nurse. It had grown dark outside, if they had to guess, it was past 7 pm.

"Sorry to wake you," the nurse told them. "But if you'd like to go home today, you should let the doctor take a look at you."

"Of course," Andy mumbled, carefully extracting himself from underneath Sharon. Once on his feet, he waved a hand at Sharon and said, "Go ahead."

When Sharon rolled her eyes at him, the doctor chuckled and said, "I'll take that as a good sign." The words only made Andy smirk.

"So can I go home?" Sharon asked, as the doctor went over her chart one final time. By the look on her face, she was ready to protest should the doctor tell her no.

"Yes," he said, pulling her chart up to his chest. "You'll need more rest, since the drugs have upset your systems a bit, but I think you can manage that from home as well. As for your shoulder, so far that's healing up nicely, and on Monday we'll see about signing you up for physical therapy."

"The sling?" Sharon asked, looking at it, too.

"Keep it on tomorrow, I don't want to risk any swelling," her doctor said. "And if it doesn't swell up, you can remove it before bed tomorrow. It'll do it good to start using it again instead of keeping it immobile all the time." He paused and pinned Sharon with a strict look. "But should you experience any pain, pain you can't manage with the medication I'm releasing you with, I want you to come in for a check up, with the sling on, right away."

It was Andy who answered, nodding violently almost. "She will."

She shot him a look, but nodded in confirmation as well. "So I can go home?" she then asked, and the way her voice took on a slightly higher note said she couldn't believe her luck.

"Yeah, Sharon, I think that's what the doc just said," Andy told her, chuckling.

The doctor smiled at Sharon's bland, "Ha-ha." and said, "Yes, you may go home. Feel free to pack up and change, the papers should be ready by the time you're done here."

"Thank you, that's wonderful," Sharon said, practically beaming at the news.

Andy had to beam a smile, too. He had not even realized how much she was longing to get out of the hospital. And, if he really thought about it, he was looking forward to it as well.

...

"Oh, you're going home?"

Both Andy and Sharon turned on their feet to be met by the form of Andrea Hobbs standing at the open door of the hospital room.

"Hello, Andrea," Sharon said on a smile, letting Andy finish up with her bag as she walked over to the woman. "Yes, I am," she confirmed cheerfully.

"I only stopped by to check up on you. It's good to see you, Sharon," Andrea told her, giving her a quick hug. "I'm not sure the DA's office could have made it without our favorite deal maker," she added on a smile.

Sharon laughed. "I highly doubt that, but thank you."

"They filled you in on the deal?" Andy asked, closing Sharon's bag.

"Yes," Andrea sounded somewhat disappointed and, at Sharon's inquisitive look, she shrugged and said innocently. "What? I'd love to have had a few moments on my own with the guy." With the case being federal, Andrea would not get a shot at dealing on it or taking it to trial herself.

Andy chuckled. "Join the club," he told her.

"I've never been so glad for the FBI's assistance on a case," Sharon said, letting Andy help slip on her jacket and shaking her head at the two of them.

"Yeah?" Andy said, looking at her sideways. "And why's that?"

"I don't really mind IA," she started on a smile, "but I have a feeling some of my ex-colleagues would be spending an awful lot of time on our floor had this been the LAPD's case only." She ended on a knowing look.

While Andy only shrugged, Andrea started laughing. "Like they would not be investigating you," she accused Sharon.

She just gave her a mischievous look over a quirked eyebrow. "Did I imply they wouldn't?" she asked in reply.

This time, Andy laughed, too.

...

When they arrived home, Sharon stopped Andy from opening the door by putting a hand over his just as he reached for the door handle.

She had grown quieter on the drive back from the hospital and her earlier rather cheerful mood abated somewhat. It worried Andy, and her words about not liking silence at the moment rang loudly in his mind, but he decided to let her be for a while, not wanting to add to what was probably a chaotic mess of thoughts in her mind at the time being. He wasn't really surprised that once she ran out of obvious distractions, the recent events would take over her thoughts more intensely again, but he still wished he could be of more help.

"You okay?" he asked her.

She sighed. "I am," she assured him softly. "But," she shook her head, "I think I've had enough of noise for today."

He gave her a surprised look. "Had enough distractions, huh?" That was certainly not what he expected.

She shrugged her healthy shoulder. "For now," she told him.

"Well, don't worry about it." Andy shrugged, too. "Just go to our room, they'll understand."

She stared at the door for a moment. "I know," she finally said.

"Ready?" Andy asked, looking at her hand that still covered his.

"Go ahead," she told him, pulling her hand back.

He nodded and made to open the door. "Oh," he said, surprised to see the door was locked.

"Light's on," Sharon said, giving the window next to the door a quick look.

"Being careful I guess," Andy muttered, fishing his keys out, surprised that nobody noticed them trying to get inside.

When he finally opened the door and they stepped inside, nobody seemed to be home, the only sign of life the turned on light in their entryway.

"Rusty?" Sharon called out, looking down the hall in the direction of his room, while Andy put down her bag. "Ricky? Emily?" she called out giving the living room an expectant look. She frowned, when she got no answer. "What are they up to?" she mumbled, slipping off her jacket.

Suddenly Andy laughed and she turned around to look at him in surprise. He was standing next to the coat rack and looking at a small piece of paper he was holding. "They're up to this," he told her, smiling now as he handed her the sticky note he had found attached to the wall next to the coat rack.

"We know you don't like hovering. Get some rest. We'll be back with breakfast tomorrow." Sharon read the words out loud.

When she looked up, she found Andy smirking at her. "They do know you," he said.

"Oh, I love them," Sharon said thickly, re-reading the note. "This makes me almost want them to be here anyway," she added, smiling and shaking her head.

"Almost?" Andy asked, taking her jacket from her to put it away.

"Almost," she confirmed, somewhat guiltily.

"You'll make it up to them later," Andy told her, grabbing her hand. "Come on," he said, pulling her into the living room.

"Where did they go though?" she asked, not fighting his pull.

"You can ask them tomorrow," he told her, leading her to the couch. "Now, sit or lie down," he instructed, pointing to the couch.

She raised a curious eyebrow at him. "You can be awfully bossy when you want to, you know?" she told him, holding back a smile and heeding his request anyway.

"You're rubbing off on me," Andy quipped, joining her on the couch when she finally sat down. He grinned when she playfully bumped his shoulder with her healthy one.

"It's almost 9, but do you think you're up for some dinner?" he then asked, wrapping his arm around her waist.

She leaned into his side. "How about some tea and then we go to bed?"

He pulled away from her a bit to give her a look. "Those drugs really have drained you, huh?"

She nodded, somewhat begrudgingly. "I have had a busy day, too," she added.

He kissed her temple. "You know, we can still push back the wedding, if you're too tir-"

"No, no, you heard the doctor," she interrupted gently. "A full night's sleep should have me up on my feet tomorrow, without all this heaviness and grogginess."

"You sure?" Andy asked, even though that was exactly what the doctor had told them before officially discharging her.

"I'll make you a deal," she said, pulling a bit farther away from him to give him a proper look. When he quirked an eyebrow at her, she smiled. "If I'm still this exhausted tomorrow, I will consider putting it off."

"Consider it?" Andy asked, her deal clearly not sounding too impressive to him.

"I _have_ rubbed off on you," she mumbled, making him chuckle. "Fine, I'll agree to postponing it until I feel better."

"Fine," she started smiling, "but," Andy raised a finger, her smile fading somewhat, "only if you have at least a piece of toast or something with that tea of yours." When she geared up to protest, he quickly added, "You haven't had anything to eat since lunch, and I don't remember the doc saying anything about the drugs killing your appetite."

"That's not what's killing it," she retorted, slightly irritated all of a sudden, the words possibly escaping her before she could stop them.

But Andy didn't mind, and just took hold of her hand. "I know," he told her softly. "All the more reason I make sure you eat anyway," he added, getting to his feet.

She gave him a small, grateful smile and when he squeezed her hand to get her to stand up, she obliged without speaking.

"So do we have a deal?" he asked her, smirking a little.

She shook her head at him. "Only because I love you," she finally said.

"Good enough for me," he said, smiling and tugging on her hand to lead them into the kitchen. "Because I love you, too," he told her, bumping his shoulder into her healthy one.

...

When he got out of the bathroom, after brushing his teeth, he found her already in bed, staring at her phone that stood on the nightstand next to her side of the bed.

"It's finally wearing you down, isn't it?" he told her, rounding the bed to get into it as well.

The words got her to unglue her eyes from her phone and to look at him instead. "That obvious?" she asked, smiling guiltily.

"Maybe," he shrugged as he leaned against the headboard. "I'm surprised it took you this long to fold though," he added, smirking now.

When they had walked into their kitchen earlier, they had found a light dinner in the oven and even two cups with tea bags waiting for them. Sharon was so touched that she ended up actually eating more than just toast and ever since, Andy was just waiting for her to grab her phone to call the kids to not just thank them but to also find out where they had gone off to.

"I did not fold," she argued defensively and it got Andy laughing at her.

"Very funny," she told him sarcastically.

"Maybe not," he told her seriously. "But you have no idea how glad I am to see this."

"See what?" She was confused now.

"This," he said and waved a hand at her, mirroring his position on the bed.

She smiled, but sobered considerably as what 'this' exactly was dawned on her. She leaned into his shoulder. "I know," she said quietly.

In response he tucked her into his side by wrapping an arm around her waist. "So if you did not fold, you're not gonna call them?" he asked.

She hesitated for only the briefest of moments. "No, I'm not," she told him, quite resolutely, too.

He chuckled. " _I_ " the playful inflection on the word had her tense up fractionally, knowing he was going nowhere good with his sentence, "know where they are."

She instantly pulled away from him. The way her eyes wandered for a few moments before she spoke, had him think the question she finally asked was not the only one floating around her mind. "How?"

"Texted Rusty while you were in the bathroom," he informed her, quite smugly.

"Fine," she said, tucking herself into his side again, "I fold."

The words had Andy laughing at her again. "Yup, definitely glad to see this," he said, squeezing her side gently.

She lifted her head to put her chin against the side of his bicep and looked at him imploringly.

He shook his head at her but smiled and finally answered. "Ricky and Rusty are staying with Gus. Emily and Ethan are crashing with Ben and Joey."

Sharon's entire face lit up. "Really?" she asked, her voice going unusually high with the surprise in it.

"Really," he confirmed on a happy nod. "And before you start, Nicole's the one who offered," he added.

Sharon sighed contentedly. "She's wonderful," she told him.

"Yeah," he let out on a sigh of his own. "I think so, too."

Sharon only smiled and scooted down, to lie down properly, turning to her side, on her healthy shoulder. When Andy scooted down too, turning to his side to face her while propped on an elbow, she just remained quiet, watching him.

"Sleep," he told her, a bit jokingly even though he could tell her thoughts had taken a more serious turn.

Instead of following his order, she quietly asked, "Are you okay?" If her arm wasn't in a sling, she would have probably run a hand down the side of his arm, too.

The question had Andy roll his eyes at her. It was easy to guess his earlier loss of temper with Rusty had not slipped her mind yet. "I am," he told her, looking at her hand that peeked out of her sling as he ran his fingers over the tips of hers.

"You didn't have to take tomorrow off, Andy," she told him, not buying his answer even though it was an honest one.

He told her on the way home that he had called Provenza to take the following day off. Provenza wasn't even surprised and just told him they had it covered. "I didn't," Andy agreed. "And I know the house will be full with or without me tomorrow, but if we're really getting married the day after tomorrow, I'd like to lend a hand any way I can." He tilted his head and looked at her. "I do believe you saying something about being behind schedule."

She gave him an unimpressed look, but made no comment about him clearly wanting to babysit her, too. Instead she said, "I'll schedule an appointment for Monday if I can. Maybe you should, too."

That had Andy frown slightly, immediately picking up on what she was suddenly talking about. "The department shrink?" he asked, not waiting for her to reply. "I have my meetings, Sharon, don't worry about me," he told her, letting go of her fingers to place his hand on her cheek and drop a kiss to her forehead.

When he pulled back, he noticed she had closed her eyes, but when she shook her head, he knew she wasn't going to drop the matter. "Andy."

The soft, worried but almost exasperated way his name left her lips had him interrupt her before she could say whatever she planned on saying. "Fine, I'll go if you really want me to."

She opened her eyes and he knew that she really did. "At least for an evaluation," she said. "I need to know that you-"

"Okay, okay," he stopped her. He really wasn't in the mood for a reminder of his own health issues, be it mental or physical ones. "I'll go, you don't have to sell it on me."

She chuckled. "Come here," she told him and he leaned down to her face. "Thank you," she told him and kissed him softly.

He smiled and asked, "Will you sleep now?" He sounded slightly impatient now.

"Yes," she replied instantly, moving even closer to him.

"Good night," he said when she nestled her head on top of his shoulder.

She hummed. "Night, Andy."

 **TBC**

* * *

Just a chapter filling in the rest of their day. More fluffy than anything else. We're slowly nearing the end, and while I do have a bump in the road (or two) planned, I think it's safe to say we're done with most of the suspense and worry in this story.


	16. Chapter 16 - What Are You Two Up to?

**Chapter 16 -** **What Are You Two Up to?**

Sharon woke up to the sight of Andy watching her.

He was lying on his side, his head propped up on a hand, and smiled when she opened her eyes. "Morning," he mumbled.

"Morning," she said, rolling over to her back and stretching her legs out. "How long have you been awake?" she asked, turning her head to look at him.

He shrugged. "Not long."

His gaze held so much concern, that she suddenly sighed and put up her hand to reach his face. "I only had the one, Andy," she told him, caressing his cheek.

"I know," he told her, turning his head to kiss the palm of her hand.

"Not long," she repeated sarcastically, shaking her head at him.

He just offered a shrug in response. "Wanna talk about it?" he asked quietly, taking hold of her hand.

She had woken him up in the middle of the night, thrashing around, groaning and whimpering. It had taken him a good thirty seconds to wake her and pull her out of her nightmare, and when he had finally succeeded, she had initially given him a terrified, wide-eyed look that all on its own was haunting. Her terror had only lasted for a second though and the moment she had registered his worried "Sharon." she had relaxed and silently tucked herself into his side. He had started running a hand soothingly over her back and even there he had been able to pick up on her racing heartbeat. She had not spoken, but had remained awake for nearly half an hour, taking deep, long breaths before finally falling asleep again.

It had taken him much longer to fall asleep after that and when he finally did, it was a fitful sleep interrupted by his worried need for checking up on her. He was up for nearly an hour by now, taking immense comfort in the fact that she had seemed to be sleeping peacefully for the time being.

"Nothing to talk about," Sharon said on a sigh, letting her gaze fall on the ceiling of their bedroom. "I was tied up again, couldn't get out of my restraints and," she trailed off, waving a hand through the air, either not finding the right words or not wanting to discuss it in the first place.

Andy could guess the rest though, the renewed fear and everything else that she must have gone through. "Have you had any at the hospital?" he asked, worried that she maybe had and he had somehow not noticed.

"No," she said, a bit more forcefully than anticipated, realizing where his thoughts had gone. "I guess, it finally sank in," she told him, the sentence ending on a high note as if she were posing a question.

"Maybe," Andy said absentmindedly. "Still feeling heavy?" he asked, deciding that not only did she not want to discuss it but she probably didn't know what to say about it anyway.

She smiled and looked at him. "No." She took a deep breath as if to prove just how much lighter she felt now.

"Good, you look much better, too," he told her, letting go of her hand to brush away the stray strands of hair that hid her face, as if to make sure that she wasn't as pale as she had been most of the previous day.

"I feel much better," she assured him.

"Minus the nightmares," Andy muttered, as if angry with them for even daring disturb her slumber.

She did not argue. Instead, she sighed in slight resignation. "They'll pass," she said hopefully. Knowing it would probably not be the case, she still added, "Maybe it's the first and final one."

"Until they do," Andy started, ignoring her final thoughts, probably sharing her unvoiced ones, "we'll deal with them." He finished by dropping a kiss to her lips.

"Thank you," she told him quietly, but clearly meaning the words.

"It's nothing," he waved her off, suddenly sounding less serious now, making her quirk a surprised eyebrow at him. "Tomorrow you're agreeing to put up with me for the rest of your life." She smiled at that. "I can put up with these," he told her, getting out of the bed now. "It's the least I can do. Besides, they will go away eventually," he had reached and stopped in front of their bathroom door to give her a wide smile. "I, on the other hand, plan on sticking around."

He gave himself a mental pat on the back, when, as he walked into the bathroom, he heard her amused laugh. While he did not know how to chase away her terrors at night, he knew how to keep her mind away from them during the day.

...

Andy had just put the water on for some coffee, when they heard the front door opening.

Sharon started getting to her feet (she had been instructed to just sit down at the dining table and wait), when impatient shouts of "Grandpa!" and "Grandma!" rang through the house. When she finally turned the corner to enter the living room, she literally ran into the shouts' sources.

"No," Ben said panicky, failing miserably at preventing the bunch of flowers he had been carrying from falling down to the floor after his run in with Sharon.

Joey rubbed his nose, it having taken the brunt of the collision, then laughed at their clumsiness. "Hi, grandma!" he told her, looking up. "Sorry, we didn't hurt you, right?" he asked somewhat worriedly.

Before Sharon could answer, Emily's voice carried over to her, soon followed by Emily herself. "Stop shouting, maybe they'r-" She stopped mid-sentence as she saw her mother standing in front of the two excited boys. "Oh, hi, mom," she said, surprised.

"Hi, honey," Sharon told her on a wide smile, wrapping an arm around Joey, while his brother was still busy collecting the now scattered flowers. "What's this?" she asked, looking at her two soon to be step-grandchildren.

"They're skipping school again," Emily informed her. "Nicole had some errands to run, she'll be here in a couple of hours but these two," she moved now to help Ben, "couldn't wait that long."

"Hi," Ethan and Andy said at the same time. Ethan had stepped further into the living room so that Sharon could actually see him while Andy showed up behind her to greet their unexpected guests himself.

Joey giggled at the coincidence, while Sharon offered a "Hello" in response.

"Here you go, grandma," Ben said, Emily having helped put together his bunch of flowers again. "These are for you," he added, handing her the flowers.

"Oh, they're wonderful, thank you," Sharon took them gladly. "Follow me," she told both Ben and Joey, turning toward the kitchen again. "Let's find them a vase."

Without further prompting, the two boys, quickly throwing their grandfather a "Hello!" on their way, went after her.

"They know me longer, you know," he complained to Ethan and Emily, "and look," he waved a hand between where they had just disappeared from and himself.

Both of them laughed, but then more seriously, Emily asked, "How is she?"

Andy shrugged. "Much better than yesterday," he told her. "The quiet last night was a great idea," he added gratefully.

"Yeah," Emily said on a sad smile. "I thought us hovering might be a bit too much," she added on a shrug.

"Well, you were right," Andy walked over to hug her in both greeting and gratitude. "I actually thought she was looking forward to a full house," he told her on a shrug.

"How come?" Ethan asked, walking over to shake Andy's hand.

"To keep herself busy." It was Emily who answered, giving Andy a knowing look.

"Exactly," Andy nodded. "But she really appreciated the space instead," he told Emily. "Dinner, too," he added.

Emily was about to say something else, when Ben walked back into the living room and interrupted her.

"Grandma said you should stop talking about her behind her back," he informed them, folding his arms, "and join us in the kitchen."

Andy rolled his eyes, while Ethan and Emily laughed, but all three of them followed the boy back into the kitchen.

Sharon wrapped Emily in a tight one-armed hug once they all finally joined her. "Thank you," she mumbled into her ear. When she pulled away she said, smiling, "But you're crashing here tonight."

When Emily looked at Andy, saying "Sure." only after he slightly nodded, Sharon gave them a suspicious look.

"Coffee?" she asked, deciding not to grill them about it.

Emily and Ethan nodded their heads, accepting the offer.

"I believe _I_ was in the middle of doing that," Andy said, making a show of taking over the task of grabbing coffee mugs by putting his hands over Sharon's arms and moving her to the side.

She rolled her eyes, but let him. "Fine," she said, walking over to the dining table to retake her earlier seat. Ben and Joey had already sat down there on the two chairs opposite of her, a vase filled with water and flowers in front of them.

"Gus is working," Ethan told her, pulling out a chair to Sharon's left for Emily to sit down as well. Sharon smiled at the gesture and the casualness of it. "But he's sending breakfast over with Rusty and Ricky."

"Yeah," Emily turned to look at Andy as he started pouring them all coffee. "They should be here in an hour or so," she added on a painfully obvious pointed look.

"Alright," Sharon suddenly said, quite loudly too, startling Ethan as he took a seat next to Emily. "What are you two up to?" she asked, turning in her chair slightly to wave a finger at her daughter and Andy, her earlier conscious decision of not asking completely thrown out the window now.

"Emily," Andy started on a groan, shaking his head, "where's your poker face disappeared to?" he asked her.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she really sounded regretful, taking turns to give an apologetic look to both her mother and her future step father. "I'm just too excited this time," Emily told him, shrugging innocently.

"Excited about what?" Sharon asked her. "Would this be about that surprise you mentioned yesterday?" she asked Andy.

"Maybe," Andy told her on a smirk, now walking over to her with a platter full of hot coffee mugs with the intention of putting it down on the table.

Deciding to just give up before even attempting to get it out of either one of them, she said, resigned to her fate obviously. "I believe I'll find out in an hour or so?" She directed the question at Andy but looked at Emily at the last three words.

"Maybe," Andy quipped, waving a hand over the coffee, silently telling them to go ahead and grab a mug.

Sharon scoffed, but dropped the matter, taking a sip of her coffee instead, while Andy sat down at the head of the table, between her and Ben.

When Ethan started laughing suddenly, it was Emily who, surprised, asked, "What?"

"Nothing," he said, still laughing but shaking his head now, too. "It's just," he briefly looked at Andy as if in support even though he had no idea what was that funny all of a sudden, before looking back at Emily, "it's like there's two of you." He waved a hand at her.

While only Andy burst out laughing as well, guessing where Ethan was going with this, Emily asked, mildly offended now, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Remember when I surprised you with that trip to Ricky's?" he asked her.

Sharon perked up at that, having known about the trip but not about Ethan's part in it.

She did not, however find out many more details, because Emily suddenly deflated and quietly, almost guiltily, let out nothing but an "Oh."

"Exactly," Ethan said on a smug grin. At Sharon's and Andy's curious looks, he added, waving a hand at the table. "This was practically a repeat performance, questions, scoff, exasperation and resignation all included. Yesterday before we left, too."

"You poor man," Andy told him, sounding genuinely sympathetic, "I feel you, keeping surprises from Sharon is-"

"Oh, hush you," Sharon cut him off, slapping his arm. "I'm a detective, curiosity is a professional deformation by now."

Both Ethan and Andy laughed. Even Emily had to chuckle.

"So what's _your_ excuse?" Ethan asked Emily, the question having him laugh again before he could properly get all the words out.

Emily rolled her eyes, but smiled while exchanging a quick look with her mother. "You know," she raised a challenging eyebrow at him, "nobody's _forcing_ you to surprise me."

"Especially if it's so much trouble for you," Sharon chipped in, giving Andy a purposefully bland look.

Ethan chuckled. "True," he agreed, nodding. "But it riles you up, Em, and that alone makes it all worth it," he quipped.

Over Emily's sarcastic "Ha-ha." Andy started laughing again.

"Is that why _you_ do it?" Sharon's voice went dangerously low as she aimed the question at Andy.

He instantly sobered. "No," he replied completely seriously before a smug look crossed his features. "I do it for the reward afterwards," he added, puffing his chest out proudly and giving them all a firm nod of his head.

It sent Ethan into another fit of laughter while Sharon almost hissed her shocked "Andy!"

Emily just put her face into her hands in embarrassment, almost chanting "Too much information, Andy, too much information, Andy." behind them.

"What reward?" Ben suddenly asked, his brother and him having (surprisingly) in silence, been following the adults' conversation until then. At Ben's question, Joey gave Andy a curious look.

The words had Emily give them a wide-eyed look, while Ethan only laughed harder.

"All yours, my dear," Sharon told Andy, waving a hand in front of her, letting him provide them with an appropriate answer.

It didn't faze Andy though. "Have you ever seen grandma smile that huge smile of hers?" he asked them, sounding rather dreamy as he recalled the mere memory of it.

When both boys looked briefly at Sharon, but nodded, he added. "Well, it gets even more huge when I surprise her!" he told them, indicating its exaggerated size by pulling his hands away from one another as far as they could go. "That's the best reward ever," he finished, leaning back into his chair and folding his arms, self-satisfied with his explanation.

The boys grinned, but Emily muttered, "Nice save, Andy."

He just shrugged and shot Sharon a look. "It's not a save when it's true," he said honestly, planting a flattered, almost bashful, smile on Sharon's face, before pinning Emily with a strict look. "Get your mind out of the gutter, young lady."

That finally had Sharon burst out laughing, too.

...

"I'm hungry," Joey complained almost an hour later as him and his brother took a seat on their beanbags, cartoons on the TV keeping them occupied.

"As am I," Sharon said over a pointed look directed at her daughter, sitting next to her on the couch.

"They should be he-"

Emily stopped mid-sentence as the ringing of the door bell interrupted her and put a broad smile on her face.

Sharon was at the door before the rest of them could even get to their feet. Ben and Joey followed her right away though.

"Ricky," Sharon said, starting on an excited note but ending on a rather disappointed one.

"Wow, good to see you, too, mom," Ricky told her sarcastically, not missing her tone of voice, but pulling her into a hug anyway.

"My funny guy," Sharon told him, but wrapped her usable arm tightly around him. "Where's Rusty?" she asked, looking outside, as she closed the door behind him.

"Where's breakfast?" Joey asked before Ricky could answer.

"Here," Ricky said, smiling and waving a plastic bag at him. "But who are you two, huh?" he asked, knowing fully well who they were, having even met them once.

"Did you forget us?" Ben asked, incredulous.

"Of course not, I'm just kidding," Ricky told Ben. "You're Joey," he told him, then turned to Joey, "and you're Ben." He aimed a finger at them, too, making sure they knew who he was referring to.

"No, silly," Joey said, chuckling. "I'm," he pointed at himself, "Joey." He pointed at his brother next to him. "And this is Ben."

Sharon had to suppress a laugh.

"Oh, right," Ricky said, hitting his forehead at the feigned error. "I forgot, must be getting old," he added, walking into the living room and dropping his bag onto the coffee table.

"You're just yanking our chain," Ben muttered but went after his source of food.

"Maybe," Ricky told him on a grin, opening the bag. "A high five in exchange for food?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, please," Ben said, slapping Ricky's held up palm with his own. "I'm starving!"

"Oh, no, no, no," Sharon suddenly let out. "I can look past the impolite greeting," she told the boys over a pointed look, "but you will move that breakfast over there," she said, waving a hand in the general direction of the dining table.

The boys gave her a guilty look, but nodded and made their way to the kitchen.

"Hi, Em, hi, Ethan," Ricky threw them as he followed the boys, knowing his mother was not above admonishing him, too.

"Where's Rusty though?" Sharon asked after him.

"Check the patio," Ricky replied, not bothering to pause on his way to the kitchen.

When Sharon looked at Emily and Ethan, now standing on each side of one of the chairs next to the couch, she shook her head at their grinning faces.

"You're terrible," Sharon muttered, walking over to the patio doors. "Absolutely terrible," she repeated. "I take it Andy's there, too?" she asked, noting his absent presence.

Neither Ethan nor Emily had to answer, because, at that, the doors to the patio opened and Andy stepped inside, pushing the curtains aside in the process. He was wearing a grin, too.

Sharon looked at the now revealed patio and gasped. She quickly took the last few steps toward the door, whispering an incredulous, "Oh, my God!" on her way.

 **TBC**

* * *

Oh, look, another (little) cliffhanger! But I'm sure you can guess what the surprise is?

Also, just to clarify, by bump in the road, I merely meant it won't be all moonlight and roses, and that there's still stuff to deal with, e.g. nightmares. You'll see a bit more of what I mean by that in the next chapter.


	17. Chapter 17 - Comfort

Here's a long chapter. I just couldn't settle on a good enough place to split it, and besides, if we want to make it to that wedding any time soon, maybe I had better hurry it along a bit. :D

* * *

 **Chapter 17 - Comfort**

"Sharry," Bill said, walking inside and immediately wrapping Sharon into a bear hug.

"Dad," Sharon said, the word leaving her on barely a whisper as she buried her face into her father's neck.

"Hey, honey," Kate said, joining them by wrapping her arms around her daughter from the side.

"Mom," Sharon mumbled, making no move to move out of her parents' embrace. "How? When?" she murmured, before suddenly lifting her head, only just managing to take a look at her father's face. "Is this why you didn't pick up this morning?" she asked.

"Yes," Kate confirmed, finally letting go of Sharon. "You caught us mid-flight probably," she added.

Sharon had only briefly talked to them the previous day, a nurse, coming in to check on her, interrupting them. She had tried calling them that morning when she and Andy woke up but her calls had gone unanswered.

"How are you?" Bill asked her, trailing his hands down the sides of Sharon's arms, giving her a long once over.

"I'm alright, dad," Sharon told him. "Apart from the shoulder," she tilted her head to the right, unnecessarily pointing it out.

Kate moved her hair aside, giving her a concerned look. "And these," she said softly, trailing a thumb over the red marks left there by the taser gun.

When Bill's eyes settled on her wrists, where the traces of her restraints were now barely even noticeable (probably thanks to the fact of not being tied up as long as her kidnapper's other victims), Sharon took his hand. "Those are nothing," she said, indicating both the marks on her throat as well as those around her wrists. "Come," she added, tugging on his hand, and grabbing her mother's, too, as she made her way back to the couch.

"Hello," Ethan said, giving them an awkward wave of a hand, when their gazes fell on him.

"Ah, you must be Ethan," Bill said, offering a hand as he walked past the coffee table to greet him. "I'm Bill O'Dwyer."

"Ethan O'Riley," Ethan shook the older man's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"And I'm Kate," she offered a hand as well, walking past the couch and coffee table, too. "Also O'Dwyer," she added on a smile, as Ethan shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Ma'am," Ethan said, smiling, too.

Sharon chuckled, when her mother said, "Please, call me Kate."

At Kate's curious look, Sharon explained, "He's calling me 'Ma'am' more often than not, and I've been correcting him for months now." She had made herself comfortable in the middle of her couch.

Kate smiled. "A polite young man then," she said, giving Ethan an appraising look.

"That he is, grandma," Emily confirmed, smiling warmly at her boyfriend. "How about saying hello to me now?" she said on a faux jealous note, opening her arms to invite her for a hug.

"Hello there," her grandmother told her, accepting her hug.

"Hi, Em," Bill said, kissing her cheek.

"Hi," she told both of them. "The flight went alright?"

"Yes," Bill confirmed, then shot Rusty a look, who was lingering in front of the patio doors next to Andy. "The car service from the airport was nice, too," he added on a smile.

Rusty just shrugged. "Anybody hungry?" he asked, swaying the two plastic bags that hung from his hands on each of his sides.

"Oh, right," Sharon said, suddenly remembering that she was indeed hungry. She got to her feet. "Follow me," she told her parents, already making her way through the living room.

She stopped when she reached Andy, letting Rusty lead her parents ahead and into the kitchen. "Thank you," she told him, kissing his cheek quickly. "But they could've used our front door, you know," she added, giving him an amused look.

"Aah," Andy let out on a high note, tilting his head from side to side while grinning at her. "Maybe I do enjoy riling you up, after all," he told her. "Just a little bit," he added on a quick wink.

Emily and Ethan caught his words and started laughing, earning themselves a halfhearted glare from Sharon. "Shoo," she told them, ushering them into the kitchen.

"You, too," she told Andy, who was now laughing as well, and took his hand to pull him with her.

When they finally reached the table, they found Ben and Joey, already eating, seated across from Kate and Bill, shooting curious questions at them, having met them for the first time just then. Ricky was at the head of the table between them, Rusty at its opposite end, while Emily and Ethan were in the middle of taking the seats to his left and right side.

Bill gave them an amused look, letting Kate deal with the boys all on her own for a moment. "I like the new table," he told them. "But you're still a few places short," he added on a chuckle.

"Told ya we should have gotten the extendable one," Andy threw Sharon's way as he walked over to his grandsons' places.

When she gave the back of his head a bland look, her father laughed at her.

The dining table had been one of the new pieces of furniture they had gotten for the house. It was a massive, brown oak table, 8 beige padded chairs around it. After Christmas it was clear that, should they have company over more often, and they certainly expected to have it, they would need a bigger dining table. This had been the one they settled on after narrowing it down to two. The extendable one, quite similar to this one, would have been the smarter choice, given their situation at the moment, but Sharon had considered finding extra storage space for two additional chairs they might never get around to using an unnecessary hassle.

Deciding to make no comment on the matter, she followed Andy, who had taken Ben in his lap so he could sit down as well, and said, "I see you've met these two." She ruffled Joey's hair and looked at Ben.

"Your dad's a judge!" Ben told her, sounding mighty impressed.

"Mhm," she confirmed on a smile, leaning against the back of Joey's chair.

"We were in the middle of describing our surprise," Kate said, smiling at them.

When Sharon smiled broadly, Andy bobbed Ben up and down on his knee. "Look," he told him, pointing a finger at Sharon, and bumping Joey's shoulder to get his attention as well. "That's my reward!"

Joey looked up, catching Sharon's smile before she could roll her eyes at Andy's antics. "That sure was a huge smile," Joey said, sounding rather impressed.

Andy smirked. "Told ya," he quipped.

At her grandparents' and brothers' puzzled looks, Emily shook her head and said, "Trust me, you don't wanna know."

But Joey took no issue with offering an explanation. "Grandpa's reward for the surprise was grandma's smile," he told them, shrugging, clearly not getting why they wouldn't want to know something as simple as that.

When Sharon just smiled again as if proving his point, Ben, whose attention was still on her, said, "See?"

Andy's smug chuckle was enough for the real reason behind Emily's words to dawn on them though.

While Bill and Kate exchanged amused looks, Rusty shook his head. Ricky, however, got to his feet and changed the topic.

"Take my seat, mom," he told Sharon who was busy shooting Andy an unimpressed look, placing himself behind the now vacant chair. "I've had a few bites with these two," he added, giving Ben and Joey a quick look.

She walked past Andy and stopped to put her hands on her son's shoulders. When she lightly pressed on them, he leaned down, letting her kiss his cheek. "Thank you," she told him, running her hands down his shoulders and arms, grateful for much more than just giving up his seat.

He shrugged and pushed her chair forwards as she sat down.

Once she did, she gave Rusty across from her a long look. "You, too, buster," she told him, making him roll his eyes.

...

Soon after breakfast Nicole joined them. They were in the middle of deciding what needed to be done in final preparations for tomorrow's big day and had realized that having to entertain Ben and Joey at the same time might make their tasks somewhat challenging. So when, before any of them could even voice their concerns, she announced Dean was stopping by in an hour to pick them up, it immediately put them all slightly more at ease.

The rest of the day had gone by in a flurry of last minute errand running, making sure everything was set, and tweaking one or two things now that Sharon's parents, who originally were not going to make it to the wedding, were in attendance as well. Originally, since the team was supposed to be working, the ceremony was scheduled at 6 pm, but taking into account Sharon not being at full capacity, even if the drug's side effects had definitely disappeared, they had decided to try to push it up to an earlier slot now that they had gotten the entire afternoon off. And after checking in with the photographer they hired to make sure he could change his schedule, despite the very short notice, they had succeeded in that and were now set to get married at 3 pm the following day.

It was late afternoon when most of what had to be done was indeed done and Rusty went to meet up with Gus, Ethan and Emily being invited to join them for what Ricky had teasingly called a double date. Ricky himself had retreated to Rusty's room, using the quiet there to check in with work, while Nicole left to make it home in time for dinner. All of that gave Sharon and Andy their first private and quiet moments together with Kate and Bill. It was also the first real opportunity for her parents to be properly filled in on the week's events.

"I apologize for not calling," Andy said, when there really was nothing else left to be added to Sharon's ordeal.

He was sitting on the chair to the right of the couch, where Sharon sat squeezed in between her parents, who seemed very reluctant to leave their daughter's side for the time being.

"Don't worry about it, Andy," Bill told him, waving a hand at the apology.

"You forgot with good reason," Kate added, squeezing Sharon's side since she had an arm wrapped around her.

Amidst everything, Andy had completely forgotten to inform them about what had happened. While they _had_ crossed Andy's mind, he simply had not thought of having to call them just like he had had to call Ricky and Emily. But thankfully, Ricky and Emily had remembered and broken the news to them before they could hear it on TV by accident. Rusty had then, late on Tuesday night called not just Ricky and Emily, but also his grandparents, to let them know they had found Sharon. Andy himself had only gotten in touch with them yesterday when he hashed out a plan for them to visit. Although, at their ages, it was definitely a long trip for them, and that was one of the reasons why they were not going to be attending the wedding in the first place, given what had happened, they more than eagerly agreed to Andy's little plan. Actually, Andy suspected that they may have toyed with the idea of flying out themselves, wanting to make sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that Sharon was indeed alive, well and safe again.

In response to Kate's words, Andy could only silently nod, giving Sharon a long look as if making sure the reason was really there.

"So, will you stay in the guest room?" Sharon asked them, being painfully obvious about changing the topic.

"That's what Andy told us," Bill replied, looking at Andy, who just nodded in confirmation.

"Oh, that's wonderful," Sharon said on a content smile, leaning into her mother's side. "You, Emily, Ricky," she listed off, smiling blissfully.

"Rusty and myself," Andy added, pointedly. "What?" He sounded mildly offended all of a sudden. "We're chopped liver now?" he added, the small grin making its way onto his lips giving away his teasing.

Sharon offered a playful smirk. "For the next few days, yes," she confirmed, shrugging her left shoulder, not above admitting to it.

While her parents snickered, Andy shook his head at her. "I feel so special now, what with the wedding and all," he grumbled.

The words had her parents laugh, but Sharon quite seriously said, "You are, both of you." She looked between her parents. "All of you are. All of this is, too," she added.

Kate hugged her in reply and kissed her temple. "As are you, honey," she told her thickly. "As are you," she repeated.

It put somewhat of a damper on the light mood Andy tried to bring into the room and, deciding to give Sharon a moment alone with her parents, said, "I'll make us some tea or coffee?" He was on his feet halfway through the sentence.

While Kate and Sharon both said "Tea, please." in response, Bill got to his feet, too and said, "Let me lend a hand."

Slightly surprised, Andy didn't argue, and just nodded, leading the way to the kitchen.

"I'm really okay, mom," Sharon quietly told her mother at her concerned look, when Andy and Bill left the room.

They hadn't had a private moment like this and, despite having a rather busy day, her mother's occasional worried looks aimed her way throughout it had not gone unnoticed by Sharon.

Kate ran a hand down Sharon's left arm and smiled sadly. "No, you're not, honey," she told her gently. "But you will be," she added on a slightly happier smile.

Suddenly, albeit in careful, deliberate movements, Sharon started taking off her sling. Kate tried asking, "Sharon, what are you doing?" but Sharon shook her head at her. Finally done, she then turned toward her mother and wrapped her arms around her.

"I am _so_ glad you're here," Sharon mumbled into her mother's hair, squeezing her tightly, taking comfort in what only a mother's embrace could offer.

"I'm glad _you_ 're here," Kate replied past her surprise, hugging her daughter just as tightly.

They stayed like that for a few long moments, Sharon not letting go of her.

"Your shoulder," Kate finally softly said, when Sharon still remained buried in her hair and arms.

Sharon pulled away and smiled. "It doesn't really hurt. My doctor said I could take it off tonight anyway."

"Tonight," Kate, quite strictly, repeated, taking the sling into her hands.

"Fine." Sharon rolled her eyes and let her mother put it on again.

When she was done, Kate took Sharon's hand and said, more to herself than to her daughter really, "You'll be okay." and started running her fingers over the tips of Sharon's, just watching her quietly.

A short burst of laughter suddenly bubbled out of Sharon and when Kate gave her a surprised look, she said, "They're all there, mom." She wrapped her own fingers around her mother's.

"I am allowed to make sure," Kate retorted, not finding any of it funny, but making no attempt to resume her interrupted action.

"I'm not saying you're not," Sharon said on a chuckle. "Andy did the same thing is all," she explained.

"Hmm," Kate let out, nodding slowly. "Rusty said he was worried sick, so no wonder he did."

Sharon's eyes widened for a brief moment, "When d-" she started to ask but then realized Rusty must have either kept her parents updated or talked to them on the ride over from the airport. "He was," she finally decided to simply say.

"Is he alright?" Kate asked, her concern aimed at somebody else for the first time that day.

Sharon sighed and leaned into the back of the couch, Kate following, still looking at her. "He'll disagree, but I think he's really okay, too," she said, pointedly repeating her earlier not entirely truthful words. "Nothing happened to me, mom, you know, not really. Ignoring this," she looked at her sling, "I'm not hurt or anything. I _am_ okay in that regard. But," Sharon sighed again, not finishing the sentence, instead moving on with an entirely different one. "I see this at work often enough, and I know, we both do, the aftermath of it, but being on the other side of it," she trailed off again, shaking her head and looking away.

"He's not had any heart scares?" Kate asked, now growing much more concerned than when she first asked about him. Her concern grew even more with her next words, "He didn't start dri-"

"No, no," Sharon rather forcefully interrupted her, giving her a wide-eyed look. "No, nothing like that, but he's rattled." She shrugged. "We both are."

"We all are," Kate corrected her, worming her arm behind Sharon's back to pull her close again. "We _will_ be okay though," she added, kissing her temple again.

Sharon only hummed in answer, dropping her head to her mother's shoulder.

"Don't think I'm being against any of this, least of all Andy," Kate somewhat tentatively started, but met Sharon's gaze when she lifted her head to look at her, "but are you sure getting married tomorrow is the right thing to do at the moment?"

Although Sharon correctly guessed the question the moment the word 'but' left her mother's lips, she let her ask it and waited a few beats before answering. She turned slightly to completely focus on her mother when she finally spoke.

"Yes, mom, I am," she said confidently. She took a deep breath before continuing, letting Kate know she had quite a bit to say. "I know it might look like we're now just going through with it because we worry about not getting another chance. Okay, maybe this week does have me even more determined to marry him, I'll admit that, but really, mom, what is the point of postponing it?" She did not let her mother answer. "Minus a few marks and bruises, it would all be the same. I would still have to deal with all of this." She waved a hand around the room, even though 'this' was her being kidnapped. "I would still have a million what-ifs at the back of my mind. I would still wait for our children to be able to be here for it. I would still want to marry him just as fiercely as I do now, or have wanted before all this crap happened." Kate smiled at her unusual choice of word. "You and dad probably wouldn't be here though," Sharon added, a bit of sadness seeping into her words. She then rolled her eyes and ironically said, "So that's my silver lining in all of this." She took her mother's hand. "Mom, I'm sure," she squeezed it. "We're sure." She squeezed her hand again, effectively ending her little rant.

Kate offered her a broad, warm smile. "I have a feeling I'm not the first to ask?" she asked, tilting her head at her daughter.

Sharon snorted. "Rusty and Nicole were certainly surprised. Emily tried asking, but Andy accidentally interrupted her and she made no attempt to ask since." She smiled at her next words. "Andy was actually the first one to ask. To make sure this wasn't just, as he put it, 'a knee-jerk reaction'." She put air quotation marks around his words. "And that alone, mom, made me sure of it," she finished on a softer note, tilting her head to the side and shrugging her left shoulder.

"Alright then," Kate said, smiling as she lifted a hand up to the back of Sharon's neck, finding purchase there to reach her forehead and plant a kiss on it like she had probably done a million times, long before Sharon grew up and faced the horrible world all on her own. "I'm glad," she added, pulling away, smiling again, when she noted Sharon had closed her eyes, "he's good to you."

"He is," Sharon confirmed, opening her eyes, just as the 'he' in question and her father walked back into the living room, each armed with two cups.

...

"What did you and dad talk about?" Sharon asked Andy.

They were both in bed, ready to go to sleep, Andy stretched out on his back, arms folded underneath his head, while Sharon watched him from her side, propped on her left elbow, her right shoulder and arm no longer in a sling.

After their tea, they had dinner with Ricky. Emily, Ethan and Rusty arrived home soon after, Gus having stopped by to see Sharon, too. Rusty had gone over to Gus's afterwards to spend the night there, giving his room up for Ethan and Emily, while Ricky decided to crash on the couch.

"Why do you ask?" Andy said in reply, turning his head to look at her.

They both seemed a bit off when they returned from their tea-making errand earlier. Her dad was better at hiding it, but the way he looked at her, not just with concern as he had done for most of the day, and at Andy, too, was enough to let her known that something had definitely occurred in the few minutes the two had spent alone in the kitchen. Andy was slightly more obvious, mostly because he was much more quiet when they returned than he had been up until then that day, but also because, just as they got back she noticed him taking a few slightly deeper breaths than usually and she could swear he swallowed a few times, too. It were all things she might not have noticed had she not been so attuned to and familiar with him, but she had noticed them, and, while she did not think anything bad had transpired between them, she wanted to know what all that was about.

Instead of telling Andy any of that though, she just gave him a bland look and said, "You know why."

That had Andy sigh and turn onto his side to look at her while mirroring her position. "Captain doesn't do you justice," he mumbled.

She chuckled and leaned forward briefly to peck him on the lips, but said, "So what happened?"

"Nothing really," Andy said, shrugging a shoulder. "He asked me how you were doing," he finally said, although his tone of voice indicated that was not the only thing they talked about.

Sharon's eyebrows went up for a moment. "You didn't tell him about the-"

"Oh, no," Andy grabbed her right hand, giving it a quick squeeze. "They're worried as it is, didn't mention your nightmare, don't worry."

Sharon let out a breath she hadn't even noticed she was holding in. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"He thanked me," Andy added in a light tone. "For saving you," he added on nearly a scoff.

She quirked an eyebrow at him, surprised by the attitude. "You did save me," she told him, feeling rather strange for saying that. Needing saving was an abstract concept in her mind, but it had happened. It had turned into reality. So, strange or not, it was also true.

"I'm the reason you needed saving in the first place," he muttered, frowning at her.

It hadn't been a thought that crossed his mind too often while they were looking for her, but ever since finding her, it had become a much more prominent one, one he logically, as a police officer, knew was wrong, but one he couldn't shake off knowing just how badly things could have ended.

And of course, Sharon would point out that logical part of his musings. "The reason for this is Martin Dane, an almost schizophrenic mind who could not handle the death of his mother and lashed out on innocent people," she told him sternly.

Andy's frown only deepened. He knew she was right, but it was just difficult to shake that feeling of guilt, especially with the much more positive what-if his mind conjured at the idea of not having forgotten his stupid jacket that night. "Anyway," his higher tone of voice told her that he was not going to discuss the matter anymore and that in fact there was more he had to say about his encounter with her father, "I might have, uh," at this she gave him an amused look, knowing, by his slight hesitation, that it was probably nothing good, "lost my temper a bit, when he said that."

He offered her a genuinely apologetic look, verging on a painful grimace, but she just smiled. "The kitchen's intact and I haven't heard any shouting," she told him. "And since my dad didn't say anything," she gave him a pointed look as she went on, "and he does not hold his tongue when he's displeased, it can't have been that awful."

"You're not supposed to find this amusing," he told her, his frown not dissipating in the least.

"I'm not," she quickly said, before he could go on, "but what do you expect me to do?" She smiled and asked, "Ground you? Yell at you?"

That finally erased Andy's frown and he chuckled. When he said nothing in response, she pulled her hand out of his grasp and tapped the side of his arm. "So what did you say to him?" she asked.

Andy groaned and turned onto his back. "I just spat out the first things that popped into my stupid head," he told her, looking up at their bedroom's ceiling. "That I don't deserve the thanks, that none of this would have happened had I not forgotten my jacket or if we had walked back to the hospital together. That we only found you by some dumb stroke of luck. That all I did was run around and bite people's heads off." He listed all of the things in quick succession, but took a quick breath before saying the last one. "That as useful," he laced the last word with sarcasm, "as I was, for all the good I did, you might have died, found in a park 5 days later, just like all those other innocent women were."

As much as he had just said, it was still the abridged version and his little fit of temper may have included a word or two his grandsons would not have appreciated hearing.

He then turned to look at her, his pain and guilt written all over his face. She swallowed, but asked quickly, albeit almost tentatively, "So what did my dad say?"

Andy let out a bitter laugh. "He hugged me," he told her, returning his focus to the ceiling and shaking his head. "You go missing, he almost loses his daughter, and _he_ comforts _me_ ," he muttered, angry with himself. He turned his head to look at her again. "He just hugged me," he repeated, "and thanked me again." The look he gave her all but screamed "Can you believe it?"

But then he noted her expression, the sad way she looked past instead of at him, the way her jaw tightened ever so slightly as she fought for composure. The sheen of tears in her eyes did not go unnoticed either. "Hey," he said softly, turning to his side again, and scooting closer to her, putting a hand over her side. "Hey," he repeated, gently squeezing her side while mentally kicking himself for having whined about a big fat nothing compared to what she had gone through.

In response she first buried her face into his chest and wrapped an arm, the one attached to her injured shoulder, around his waist. "I don't even remember when I last hugged you before that evening," she mumbled against him. "Or my parents," she said a bit more loudly, although she kept her face hidden and her hold on him tight. "Or," she looked up, "Emily, Ricky and Rusty," she let out on barely a whisper.

"I'm sorry," he started, but she shook her head at him, not letting him finish his apology.

"Useful," she repeated his word on a scoff. "Whatever you did or didn't do, you were, you _are_ useful," she told him forcefully. "Luck," she repeated that word on another scoff and pushed herself away from him, to pin him with a hard look. "How long have you been a police officer, Andy?" It was a rhetorical question. "And you complain about luck?" she asked, both her look and her words laced with disbelief. "I'm not dead!" she said loudly, and had she been aware of how loudly she was talking, she might have worried about Ricky hearing her from the living room. "I can hug you," she said and to prove her point, wrapped her arm around him again. Staying close to him like that, her face barely an inch now from his chest where she set her gaze, she added, "I can hug my parents, Andy. My kids, your kids, those two little ones that call me grandma." She rested her forehead against his chest and sighed. "Of course we're going to thank you, Andy."

Andy just took it all in, looking at her, letting her words hit him, letting her say and do whatever was on her mind. "You're too good to me," he told her, pressing a kiss into her hair.

She shook her head and pulled back a bit again. "I've had useless, Andy," she told him sadly. "You took care of them, you were there for them," she tilted her head at the door, encompassing them, even though one of them, Rusty, wasn't in the house at the moment. "You needn't have done anything else, anyway," she told him. "That was more than enough," she added thickly.

Andy sighed, obviously still thinking he hadn't done much but hoping she would just ignore his private sentiment (because it was a given that she'd notice). "I can hug you, too," he told her quietly, worming an arm underneath her and pulling her onto his chest as he rolled onto his back again. He squeezed her tightly. "I can kiss you," he added, dropping another kiss into her hair. "You're here. That's thanks enough, Sharon."

She hummed, dropping the matter and snuggling into him, not completely wrapping her arm around him since the movement did start tugging at her shoulder a bit.

"That's not what had you so rattled," she said after a few moments of silence passed between them.

"Huh?" he asked, needing a second to realize she was still talking about what her father told him. "Not really, yeah," he admitted, before she needed to explain herself. "He knows you as well as your kids do," he said, aiming for a more lighter tone.

"He does." She said the words both in question and confirmation.

"He told me not to let go of you," Andy finally told her, coincidentally letting both of his arms flop down to his sides.

She pushed herself up, into a half seating position, her hand finding purchase in the middle of his chest. She offered a watery smile at his soft expression and leaned down to kiss him. "You won't," she told him confidently, when she pulled away before Andy could even respond to her kiss.

"That's right," he confirmed, lifting his head up to quickly peck her lips again.

After that, she nestled herself against him again, reaching quite pointedly for his hand to wrap his arm around her, making him smile.

There really wasn't anything else to be added to the conversation. They both knew what Bill's words truly meant and they were both equally touched by them. They reiterated the blessing he had given Andy months ago. They showed how much he trusted him and in him. He trusted him to be there for her when her parents couldn't. They rattled Andy, and this Sharon knew without having to ask, because trust wasn't something Andy had ever earned easily, not after he first chose the bottle over what was really important. That her father (and mother) so readily looked past his mistakes, past the parallels that could so easily be drawn between him and her ex-husband (and yes, Andy had learned that those parallels ended with the bottle, too), meant to Andy more than he would ever be able to put into words. And that, then, with all that in mind, they had come close to maybe not having any other choice but to let go anyway, was therefore, all the more difficult to process.

Before she could drift off, Andy, in an attempt of lifting the heavy mood before they finally fell asleep, asked, "Is the wedding still on?"

She laughed, knowing what he was really asking. "I'm tired," she admitted. "But a good, familiar kind of tired, I think," she clarified on a smile, not even bothering to look at him.

"Your shoulder?" he asked next.

"Well," she drawled the word, "I might have to ease up on the hugging," she told him.

"You in pain?" he asked worriedly and she felt him tense up.

"A little," she admitted. "But it doesn't call for a doctor's visit," she added.

"You sure? Don't play it down, Sharon." A bit of impatience, even warning, seeped into his words.

"I'm sure, Andy," she lightly tapped her fingers over his side. "I just need to be more careful until I start physical therapy."

He took a breath, but ultimately relaxed. "Okay, now get some rest, please. You need your beauty sleep for tomorrow."

She chuckled. "I'll try," she promised, her nightmare on both of their minds unfortunately.

"You do that," he kissed the top of her head and made sure she was tucked in despite his arms wrapped around her over their covers.

He smiled to himself when he realized she had fallen asleep within seconds. "Tired," he muttered sarcastically, shaking his head, before finally closing his own eyes to try to get some sleep as well.

 **TBC**


	18. Chapter 18 - Getting Ready

**Chapter 18 - Getting Ready**

Once again Andy had to wake Sharon up in the middle of the night. She woke instantly this time, the moment he squeezed her arm. Again, she had given him a haunted look and then tucked herself into his side in silence, fighting whatever images were floating inside of her head until she managed to fall asleep again. Again, Andy's sleep was fitful.

However, unlike the previous day, she was the first to wake up in the morning, and that in turn woke Andy up. One look at her, lying there next to him sprawled on her back, was enough to tell him that she had awoken from another nightmare, this time all on her own. She was slightly paler than usual and just before she faintly smiled at him as she realized he had woken up too, he noticed her swallow whatever lump must have been at the back of her throat.

He was on his side facing her, so all he did was reach an arm out over her stomach until his hand reached her right hip to turn her towards him. She turned willingly and sighed when he met her forehead with his.

"I hate this," Sharon was the first one to speak and the words left her on a whisper.

"Me too," Andy grumbled quietly.

She sighed again. "I don't want to talk about it," she told him, even though he hadn't asked.

It had him sigh as well, but he said, "Okay."

She pulled away to look at him. "Not today," she clarified.

He smiled, if only barely. "Okay," he repeated, nodding this time.

"Okay," she repeated, too, as if reassuring herself of the decision she just made.

"So," Andy started, deciding to honor her wish right away by changing the topic, "are you ready for your last day as Sharon Raydor?" he asked, smiling crookedly at her.

She suppressed a laugh at his abrupt change in both topic and mood and leaned her forehead against his again. "Absolutely," she said, almost singsonging the word.

"You sure?" Andy asked, pulling back a bit as he tilted his head toward the door, through which the shuffling and voices of the rest of their current household slowly started reaching them.

She laughed and let her head fall back briefly. "What have I gotten myself into?" she asked on a high note, looking back at him.

"Don't look at me." He shook his head. "That over there," he pointed a finger at the door, "is _your_ bunch." She rolled her eyes at him but he just shrugged. "Besides, you should ask yourself this," he grinned and bobbed an eyebrow up and down, clearly up to no good. "What are you _getting_ yourself into?"

She laughed. "Trouble," she deadpanned.

"Oh, no," he told her seriously, squeezing her side gently, "we've crossed that bridge ages ago." At her now intrigued look, he added, failing to keep another grin at bay, "Wait till _my_ bunch gets here."

She successfully hid her own grin and asked on a feigned concerned note. "Lieutenant Provenza's coming over?"

Andy burst out laughing. "I meant my daughter and grandkids," he pointed out unnecessarily. "But I'm sure Provenza will love it when I tell him I'm bringing him into this marriage, too." He barely finished the sentence as another fit of laughter took over him.

"Oh, you're terrible," she admonished, although she was laughing, too.

"What?" he asked defensively. "If he's part of my bunch," he told her matter-of-factly, "you're stuck with the both of us."

Although she was laughing again, she said, "Andy," she somehow sounded quite serious, too, "please keep your partner out of our nuptials."

"Hate to break it to you, Sharon," Andy told her, grimacing, "but he's my best man today."

He was also their official witness for the wedding, and, while Sharon did not have bridesmaids or a maid of honor per se, and only Provenza would be standing next to them in front of the officiant, her mother, daughter and future step daughter would be tending to her today.

Through another bout of laughing she said, "Oh, you're on a roll this morning."

"The more you laugh the better I roll," he retorted, literally rolling her onto her back to kiss her still laughing face. He abruptly stopped though, just before he did, and pulled back a bit. "Oh God, your shoulder?" he asked, worried all of a sudden.

She let out a frustrated groan and just put his face between her hands and pulled him down to kiss him herself.

He hesitated for a moment before laughing into the kiss and eagerly responding to it.

"So," he started as he pulled back, confident that he had finally properly kissed her, "how are you feeling?" She certainly seemed happy, not letting her nightmares bring her down, she looked more rested, too, but he still had to ask. Just to make sure.

She had followed him up, when he started pulling away, but at his question she let her head flop down on her pillow. "I'm fine. I'm not tired. I'm not groggy. My shoulder doesn't hurt at all." At his narrow-eyed look, she corrected. "Okay, maybe a little bit. And despite, you know," she waved a hand through the air, not feeling like the word 'nightmare' was worthy of being said out loud, "I did get my beauty sleep."

Her annoyed answer had Andy chuckle at her. He had propped himself up on an elbow to watch her from his side. "How does it feel, huh?" he asked her, sounding completely amused.

She frowned and turned her head slightly to look up at him. "How does what feel?" she asked, just a tad more harshly that she normally would have.

"When someone needs to make sure you're okay," he told her. "All the time," he added, exaggeratedly dragging the words out.

She deflated instantly. "Was I really that awful?" she asked him.

"Worse," he confirmed, nodding. At her unimpressed look, he added, his tone of voice taking on a slightly higher pitch, "It's true. I was completely cleared by my doctor and yet you kept checking on me every chance you got." He shrugged. "Can you blame me for doing the same? Really?" he asked, his voice returning to its lower rumble.

"I know," she admitted, her look softening. "I can't," she added, sighing again. "But this is different," she argued. "God forbid you have another heart attack," she really sounded like she was begging the lord to do exactly that, forbid it. "What then, Andy?" she asked. "I," she said the word on another sigh, "can't die from this," she turned her gaze to the ceiling, lifting both of her arms up briefly. "You though?" she forcefully turned her head to look at him again, sadly this time, the question laced with her still present worry after all these months.

He offered her a sad smile. "Maybe," he wouldn't argue with her on that, she had a point, a damn good one at that. "Only, you're really _not_ fine right now," he told her quietly, gently moving away the hair that had covered one side of her face at her earlier movement. "Not physically or emotionally," he added, now tracing his thumb over her cheek.

She took a breath and let it out on a long exhale. After a moment of just looking at him, she finally said, "So if I ask you to stop asking, you won't?"

He shook his head, having no qualms about admitting that. "No, I would still keep asking," he voiced his confirmation.

She considered him for a moment, then put her hand over his that was still on her cheek. "Alright then," she said, taking his hand into hers and turning onto her side again. "Okay, you can keep on asking."

He smiled. "Not today," he told her. At her surprised look, he added, "You had a bad dream, your shoulder doesn't hurt too much and you're not tired. That's enough for now." He gave her a pointed look and added, "So if you promise to tell me should any of those last two things change, I'll stop asking for the rest of the day."

"Everything's a discussion with you," she muttered, although she had started smiling at him.

"You bet it is," he confirmed proudly.

She squeezed his hand and finally said, "I promise."

"That's settled then," he said, giving her a quick kiss before getting off the bed.

Smiling, she watched him round it, until he reached her side. "Ready to start the day then?" he asked, extending his hand to her.

She took his offered hand and said, "Ready," letting him pull her onto her feet.

...

The moment Andy and Sharon stepped outside of their room, their day was kicked into gear. Rusty and Gus had made it over even before the two were done with their morning routine. Apart from getting themselves ready, there was still quite a bit to do around the house, since that was where they planned a small gathering after the ceremony.

Not long after Sharon and Andy finally joined the rest of them, Nicole came over. She had taken Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off a month ago, and had not given the days up, despite what had transpired and thinking the wedding would not be happening because of it. Her stepchildren were supposed to come over, too, but given the already challenging week and a house crowded more than originally planned, she and her husband decided to just have Dean and the boys meet them at City Hall later. The rest of the Major Crimes division and Provenza's wife, were set to do so as well. Of course, Mike's wife and Cooper were invited too, however, Mike and Amy confirmed that they unfortunately, would not be making it. Andrea, who was also invited, would be stuck in court all day, and would also not be in attendance.

Sharon and Andy had grumbled a bit about their grandchildren not coming over, but as they dug into the day's chores, they quickly realized that maybe that wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Gus was put in charge of the food, something Sharon had rather enthusiastically relinquished control over, and Rusty was set to help him out with everything that he hadn't already prepared the previous day or the restaurant wouldn't deliver later.

Ricky, Ethan, Bill and Andy were busy setting up the patio and the little patch of greenery around it, closely following Sharon's instructions who seemed to have been running that particular show. There was enough space in front of the patio to put up four round tables that could easily seat up to six people. They rented them out just for the occasion, including extra lighting, so that they did not only have enough places for their guests to sit, but so that they also did not have to sit around in the darkness once the sun set.

It was almost 9:30 when they finally sat down for breakfast, courtesy of Sharon's mother. Rusty and Ricky had to borrow a couple of chairs from the patio to squeeze in with them at the dining table, and neither one seemed to mind the crowded seating arrangements.

They were just through with it and Emily, Nicole and Kate were already in the middle of pulling Sharon into her bedroom to finally start getting _her_ ready for the wedding, while Rusty and Gus started clearing the table, when the doorbell went off.

"We expecting somebody else?" Andy asked, surprised, but already getting to his feet and out of the room to get the door.

Sharon shook her head and, curious, followed him.

"Oh, Chief Howard," she said, when Andy opened the door without checking the peephole. "Is something the matter?" she asked, stopping next to Andy who held the door wide open. "Please, come in," she gestured for him to walk inside.

Howard nodded and stepped inside. "Sorry for the interruption, Captain," he said, looking at Andy, too. "I know you have a busy day ahead," he added on a smile. "I just came to," he fished out a set of keys from his pocket and dangled them on one finger in front of him, "return this."

Andy's eyebrows shot up. "My car," he said.

"Exactly," Howard nodded. "Blood results are in," he raised an eyebrow before adding, "a complete match, by the way, and nothing else could be found on your car anyway, so Special Agent Morris dropped by earlier to let me know it's no longer evidence."

Andy took the offered keys. "Wow," he said, really surprised as he inspected them. "Thank you," he said, looking up at Howard.

"You really shouldn't have," Sharon said, touched. "Do you have a ride back to the station?" she asked, looking behind him, as if to find an answer there, although Andy had already closed the door. "You didn't have to come by yourself, Chief," she added.

Howard waved her off. "It's not a problem." He shrugged, "Wanted to see how you were doing anyway." He tilted his head, indicating at something behind him. "Got an officer outside waiting to drive me back."

"Thank you," Sharon smiled. She exchanged a quick look with Andy. "I'm fine," she told Howard. "It'll be a while till I'm cleared for work," she put a hand over her shoulder. "At least for field work, I think," she said on a side note. "I hope Lieutenant Provenza won't be too much trouble until I'm back," she added, suppressing a smirk.

Howard chuckled. "So far so good," he said, starting to turn around. "It's good to see you, Sharon," he told her before opening the door.

"You, too," Sharon said, pausing to give Andy another look, who just rolled his eyes, guessing what she was going to say next. "Thank you for," she tilted her head towards Andy, then shrugged, "well, for everything."

Howard gave Andy a knowing look but smiled. "Nothing to thank me for, just get back on your feet before Provenza burns the murder room down," he told her jokingly.

Sharon let out a soft laugh. "I'll try, Chief, I'll try."

"Alright," Howard told her. "I better get going, I should be at work actually," he said, making his way through the door.

"You're welcome to join the wedding, Chief," Andy said, making him stop and turn around.

"I know," he said, then shrugged. "But I believe I've given an entire squad of elite detectives the afternoon off." He gave the two of them an amused look. "Somebody's gotta man the fort, Captain."

"Well," Sharon said through a chuckle, "should you change your mind, you know where to find us."

"I do," Howard said, walking down the porch steps. "Get well soon, Captain," he threw her way.

"Bye, Chief," Andy and Sharon said after him.

"You know," Andy said, as he closed the door behind Howard. "I could get used to him being Assistant Chief permanently."

Sharon smiled and shook her head at him. "Me, too," she agreed. "Only, I don't think _he_ could," she added.

"Well, that sucks," Andy simply said, shrugging.

"A little," she said, chuckling.

"You-" Andy started but the sound of Emily's voice interrupted him.

"Mom, you done over there?" she yelled.

Sharon briefly leaned her forehead against the side of Andy's arm, making him laugh, before she replied, as patiently as she could, "Coming, honey!"

...

It was 2 o'clock and Bill, Rusty, Gus, Ethan and Ricky were sitting in the living room, all dressed up in their tuxedos, ties and bows, ready to go, watching in amusement how Andy paced impatiently behind the couch.

"LA traffic!" he let out in exasperation, stopping briefly to give them a look, oblivious to the fact that they were all holding back smiles. "Do they not know how easy a 30 minute car ride can turn into a one hour drive?" he asked, throwing his arms up. He resumed pacing without waiting for an answer. "Late to my own wedding," they heard him mutter. "Unbelievable!"

Andy and the rest of the male company had been suited up for nearly half an hour, having not even taken half an hour to get ready. Sharon, however, neither one of them had seen, ever since she was dragged into her bedroom after Howard's impromptu visit. Kate had been out briefly a couple of hours ago in search for something to snack on and drink, but other than that the bedroom was off limits for them. For Andy in particular.

"And what's with the hiding, huh?" Andy stopped again, to face the living room occupants. "If they're going for all that don't-see-the-bride-for-24-hours crap, they really should have checked the time this morning!" he told them, and went on with his pacing.

Rusty finally laughed. "Andy, that's mom we're talking about," he tried. "She won't be late, you know that."

Andy shot him a glare, mid-pacing, and just scoffed.

Finally, the door of the bedroom opened, and they all heard an apparently slightly annoyed Sharon as well. "Let's go, or we'll be late." She was stepping into the living room while adding, "I bet Andy's already pacing a hole out there," they saw her wave a hand in their direction as she finally stepped into their field of view.

That had Andy stop pacing, but not to complain and grumble, but to stare. "Wow," he let out, grabbing his earlobe absentmindedly, not even noticing that his daughter and future step-daughter and mother-in-law, all looking quite stunning as well, came out, too.

Sharon smiled and walked up to him. "Sorry for the wait," she ran a hand down the lapel of his jacket. "But apparently, when you have help," she turned her head to look pointedly at the three women standing in front of the patio doors, "it takes longer to get dressed."

The three just shrugged, smug looks on all of their faces, but Andy's focus remained on Sharon. "You look amazing," he told her, the last word leaving him in a state of awe.

She was wearing a simple, white dress. At knee-length it seemed almost conservative. He reached out a hand to touch her side, only to confirm that the dress was silky. He was sure the fabric had some fancy name, like shantung or charmeuse, or something else equally difficult to pronounce, but he cared little for it. He grinned, taking in the faint lace that adorned her sides, a faint purple hue in them. She had told him that was the color to match today. It wasn't a sleeveless dress, and considering the bandage on the front of her shoulder still, he guessed she might have been quite glad for having made that particular decision before the week's worrying events. The cut of the dress started just above her collarbones and had they been alone, he might have run his fingers along the dress's lace edge. Instead he squeezed her side, nudging her to turn slightly, grinning when he noticed that the cut on her back was slightly lower than the one on the front.

He could only make out the faint taser marks on her throat because he knew they were there, but had to privately give props to the concealer and make-up that otherwise did an excellent job of hiding them. She wore light make-up, just enough to highlight her eyes even though the rims of her glasses hid them somewhat, and he thought her lipstick was of a more neutral color for his benefit, lest he paint his own lips with it later. Her hair was a look he hadn't seen, perhaps, ever. It was pulled up in a purposefully messy bun, two equally purposefully loose strands framing the sides of her face.

She smiled, not minding his obvious checking out of her as he made her turn. "You're not too bad yourself," she told him, putting up her other hand to pull at the edge of the vest he wore underneath his tuxedo jacket.

He was wearing black, a look she was used to by now. But he had foregone his tie in favor of a bow and she could tell he had this suit tailored specifically for the occasion, to make it fit just right. There was a purple tint in the black tone of his vest, but the color was much more noticeable in the satin material of his bow. It put a smile on her face, knowing it went perfectly with the slight purple accents at the side of her own dress.

Apparently they were ogling each other for a moment too long, because Sharon's father, clearing his throat, snapped them out of their little bubble. He offered a warm smile and said, over a pointed look in Andy's direction. "You said something about LA traffic?"

Andy laughed and took Sharon's hand. "That I did," he confirmed, practically dragging Sharon along with him.

"I can walk on my own, thank you very much," she said as she fell in step with him.

"Alright," Andy quipped. "But I'm driving," he added, making her roll her eyes at him as he opened the door for her.

When they were all set in their cars, he gave her a look and asked, "Ready?"

She took hold of his hand, that was still on the gearshift as he put the car in reverse, "Ready."

 **TBC**

* * *

The next chapter will, FINALLY, have a (corny? xD) wedding in it.


	19. Chapter 19 - The Wedding

So, do any of you remember how, at the end of 'Merry Shandy', I said this story would be much shorter than that one? Haha, who was I kidding?! We're now officially past that story's length. O.o

But I'm wrapping it up soon, I promise. =)

* * *

 **Chapter 19 - The Wedding**

"Look, grandpa!" Ben said the moment he laid eyes on Andy as he and Sharon entered City Hall.

"Look at what?" Andy asked, him and Sharon stopping to look at Ben and his equally excited-looking brother next to him. Nicole and Dean stood behind them, already smiling at whatever the boys wanted to show off. Most of their company had already gone toward the chamber the ceremony would be taking place in.

Both boys, suddenly opened their matching tuxedo jackets to pull on a pair of suspenders they were sporting underneath.

"We have suspenders, grandpa," Joey informed him, bouncing up and down on his toes.

"Just like you," Ben added, as they both let go of them to let them snap back into place.

"Oh, you clean up nicely," Sharon told them, bending down slightly to pull on Ben's lapels affectionately.

"Of course they do," Andy told Sharon, then turned to Joey and Ben. "It's all in the suspenders," he told them on a wink.

Not getting the joke, Ben nodded, while Joey seriously said, "Yes, we know."

While Sharon, Andy and the boys' parents chuckled, Ben took a step forward to push Andy's jacket to the side. He frowned when he noticed what he was wearing.

"That's a vest, right?" he asked suspiciously.

"That it is," Andy confirmed, raising an amused eyebrow at him.

"Why?" Joey asked, disappointed.

"Your grandma wouldn't let me wear suspenders today," Andy told them, making Sharon give him a temporarily wide-eyed look.

"Why?" Joey again asked, Sharon this time, sounding shocked.

Sharon waved them off. "Oh, he's just joking," she assured them, then leaned down conspiratorially. "He put on a vest to hide his tummy," she whispered, hiding her mouth with the palm of her hand theatrically.

Both Ben and Joey giggled and eyed Andy's belly, while Andy just rolled his eyes, probably at himself for setting himself up to walk into that one in the first place.

Sharon straightened, but Joey pulled on her hand for her to bend down again, and when she did, he whispered, "It's not really working."

When Ben just nodded, Sharon let out a snort laugh, while Nicole and Dean did their best but failed miserably at keeping their laughter at bay.

Even Andy had to laugh, but managed to shoot the boys a forcefully unimpressed glare, but then only sent them into another fit of giggles.

Thankfully, he then spotted Provenza coming in, presenting him with the perfect opportunity to change topics, "Our witness is here," he told Sharon. "Time to get this show started," he added on a playful quirk of an eyebrow.

...

One of the adjustments they had done to the wedding ceremony was in regards to Sharon's parents, or to be more precise, her father. Originally, there would be no grand entrance or walking down the aisle, but she had asked him that morning if he would walk her up to Andy even though he had gone through that particular part of a wedding with her once already.

He agreed without question. He had walked her down the aisle of the City Hall chamber the ceremony was happening in and, pressing a kiss into her forehead, whispered, "Be happy, Sharry." before 'handing' her over to her husband-to-be.

The words worked like a switch and they instantly had Sharon tear up, but she pulled herself together quickly when she started laughing with the rest of their guests, the officiant as well, when Bill pointed a finger at Andy, and just threateningly said, "You!"

Andy too laughed, but bowed his head, hands folded in front of him, as he nodded and said, seriously, "Wouldn't dream of it, Bill."

Satisfied with the answer, he finally walked away and joined his wife in the front row on a chair next to her.

The officiant then started the ceremony as planned. When they reached the part of exchanging their wedding vows, Ben and Joey took their mother's cue (a nudge to their backs) and walked up to Sharon and Andy, each holding one of their wedding bands at the ready, even though it would take a few more minutes to actually get to exchanging them. They had been thrilled when Sharon and Andy asked them to help out that way.

The officiant smiled at the sight of them, Sharon and Andy exchanged happy looks as well, and said, "Repeat after me, please." He looked at Andy to make sure he recognized his own cue, then said, "I, Andrew Flynn."

Andy smiled. "I, Andrew Flynn," he repeated, looking at Sharon, who, over a smile of her own, met his look both expectantly and excitedly.

"...take you, Sharon Raydor," the officiant went on.

"...take you, Sharon Raydor," he repeated, his smile only widening.

"...to be my lawfully wedded wife," the officiant said.

"...to be my lawf-" Andy suddenly frowned and stopped mid-sentence to look at the man to the right of him and Sharon.

It got Sharon's eyebrows to shoot up, and Provenza actually scowled at him, but before either one of them could say anything, Andy addressed the officiant. "You know what?" he asked, not waiting for an answer. "I know," he looked at Sharon, "we said we'd just do this the old-fashioned way," Sharon chuckled, but still gave him a puzzled look, "but," Andy looked back at the officiant, "can we just throw that out," he waved a hand at him, "and let me say what _I_ want?" he asked, looking at him completely expectantly.

The officiant, clearly taken by surprise, looked between the two people he was supposed to marry, and threw the rest of the room a quick look, they all seemed surprised as well, but not too worried apparently. "Uh," he stammered, "yes, uh, you may exchange your own vows, of course," he said, nodding and waving a hand at Andy to proceed.

"Great," Andy said eagerly, looking at Sharon again, who was now fighting an intrigued smile. "Sorry," he started, shrugging, "I know we said the week's events were not gonna hang over our heads today, but," he rubbed two fingers against his temple, "would you mind if I let them have me say this?"

She sobered and softly said, "Of course not, Andy."

"Thanks," he said, then turned quickly to the boys. "You can put those down for a bit," he told them, putting a hand over theirs so they would lower the little pillows their wedding bands sat on. "I," he slanted Sharon a quick look, "have a lot to say."

Although clearly puzzled, the boys, quite surprisingly, said nothing, and just, nodding, lowered their hands, taking quite meticulous care not to accidentally drop the rings.

"You know," Andy finally addressed Sharon again, completely relaxed apparently, while she, albeit just fractionally, squared her shoulders, as if to brace herself for whatever was coming. "I used to hate your guts," he told her. She smiled and relaxed, knowing that was very much true, but her eyes widened slightly in surprise over Andy's unexpected choice of topic. "We all used to," Andy added, explaining the fact to her parents, then threw a look to the squad that was huddled together in the two rows on the opposite side of them. It drew a surprised quirk of an eyebrow from Sharon, when Andy quite pointedly looked at Mike, who just gave him a wide-eyed look and shrugged, while the rest of them, sans Nolan and Amy, chuckled and laughed, knowing what Andy was alluding to.

Andy grinned. "But seriously, you annoyed the crap out of me." He barely registered the shocked gasps coming from Ben and Joey at his choice of words. "FID this, FID that. That rule, this rule." He rolled his eyes, making the rest of their squad grin, too. "Then you swoop in, take over, become my _boss_ ," he nearly groaned on that last word. "Dump the kid on us," he hooked a thumb in the direction of Rusty who sat behind Sharon's mom. "And what happens?" he asked her, smiling at the smile his mention of Rusty planted on her lips. "I actually start _liking_ you!" he told her, disbelief evident. When she laughed, he added, "Mind you, you can still annoy me," he looked at Rusty, who squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze, "you too, my man," he focused on Sharon again, "but boy, after this," there was no point in saying what 'this' was, "I can't tell you how happy I am that you _still can_ ," he told her thickly.

"Andy," Sharon let out breathlessly, but he raised a hand at her. "No, just," he waved the hand, "I just gotta say this, okay?"

She promptly closed her mouth and swallowed.

"You're here, you know," he told her seriously, but swallowing, too, before he went on. "You always were. Always there for me, even when we didn't particularly like each other. You were never out to get us, I've realized that." A slightly rueful look crossed his features. "And now, I just can't imagine my world without you. Without you being here." He took her hand into both of his and much more quietly, although everyone could still clearly make out his words, said, "I tried to imagine it though. Didn't have much choice, really." He shook his head, while Sharon took a quick breath. "And then I thought of them," he slanted a look at both his and her side of the family. He paused when his eyes fell on his two children, Charlie had made it to the wedding as promised, too. "They took me in again, because of you." He ruffled Ben's hair, since he stood closer to him than Joey. "I'm not sure I'd know these two fellas if it weren't for you," he added, smiling down at them when they looked up. "And, yeah, you're my world," he told Nicole and Charlie over another look, because it was a given between him and Sharon that their children would always come first. The two just exchanged a smile. "You've become part of it, too," he added, extending the look over to the Raydor and O'Dwyer side of the room.

"And while they all make my world amazing, I still couldn't imagine it without you, Sharon. We waited so long, and I only just finally grabbed ahold of you," he told her, squeezing her hand tightly. "I wasn't ready to let go of you," he told her, his voice going even quieter. "I don't think I ever will be," he added, looking down at her hand. "So I'm staying here, right next to you," he pinned her with a hard look that all on its own made her swallow. "For as long as I'm allowed." He spoke more loudly now. "I'm not letting go, no matter what's thrown our way. For as long as I can, I promise to love you, to let you annoy me, boss me around," he grinned when she smiled, "check up on me," he said on a quick wink, making her smile widen, "to let your kids tease me, your parents threaten me," he gave them all a long look. "Because I do love you, Sharon," he told her seriously. "Them, too," he tilted his head toward her side of the family again, not looking away from Sharon though. "I promise you, you're stuck with me for the rest of our lives."

He fell silent, the silence enveloping the entire room, and Sharon just looked at him, moved to tears she struggled to keep from falling.

The officiant, quickly cleared his throat and leaned toward Sharon. "I think that's your cue," he told her.

She tore her eyes away from Andy to give him a briefly wide-eyed look, before shaking her head at herself and blinking her tears away. She pulled her hand out of his hold and lifted her glasses to run a finger under her eyes, while saying, "You never follow protocol, do you?"

It drew a laugh from the rest of the room and Andy shrugged, rubbing a hand guiltily over the back of his head. "Sorry, I just coul-"

She waved him off, effectively hushing him. "We'll work on it," she told him teasingly, making everybody, including the boys, laugh again, while Mike even let out an amused, "Ha!"

"That's kind of our theme, isn't it?" she asked suddenly, absentmindedly almost. "Waiting, holding on, not letting go," she looked over at her father, letting him know she knew what he had told Andy, but he only smiled in response.

"Yeah," Andy said gruffly.

"I'll try not to ramble," she told him on an amused smile and he let his head briefly fall back, because, yes, he did ramble somewhat, before looking at her again, waiting to see what she would say. "Your animosity toward me," she gave Andy a pointed look, but let her look fall on Provenza, too, who actually gave her a somewhat sheepish look in return, before going over certain other members of her division, "did not go unnoticed," she said seriously. "But I'm confident enough to say that I won you over pretty quickly," she told Andy, smiling now. Provenza actually rolled his eyes. "But I was completely oblivious to you though," she waved a hand between them, "and never thought I'd find myself here all of a sudden."

"Wow, doing wonders for my ego, Sharon," Andy muttered teasingly but quickly sobered at the look she gave him for interrupting her. It had the room snicker a bit.

"I was mortified that day, when Nicole," she threw the woman in question a quick look, "came over and started talking about balancing _romance_ and _responsibilities_." Nicole briefly let her head fall into a hand in embarrassment. Andy looked rather guilt-ridden himself. "And then, the kid," Sharon pointedly repeated Andy's earlier reference to Rusty, as she tilted her head towards him, "comes to my rescue and helps her understand." She laughed at the end of the sentence. "Mortified, Andy, I was mortified!" she let out on a surprisingly high note. "I wasn't too happy with you either," she went on, making a move as if to poke him in the chest, but instead ended up running a hand down the lapel of his jacket. "But," she sighed, smiling now, "I think you were right last year, when you said we should thank him." Rusty's eyes went wide. "Nicole, too," she added. "I didn't see you until then, I think." She shrugged and smiled at Andy's puzzled look. "Not properly, not like this," she again waved a hand between them.

He shrugged in response, but remained carefully silent, giving her a moment to carry on.

"I ought to thank _you_ , too," she then said, raising Andy's eyebrows with the words. "Everything that happened in between," no need to voice Stroh's name out loud, "and you were _still_ there. Not asking for anything in return, you were just _there_ for me." There was a note of wonder in the words and her smile turned watery as she quietly added, "That's not something I was used to, Andy. I'm still not."

The words had Andy smile sadly at her, and it was hard to miss the collective sigh coming from Sharon's parents and biological children. None of them wanted to recall her previous marriage just then, but they all knew what, or rather, who she was talking about. Emily and Ricky had actually told her earlier in the day that Jack had asked about her, wanting to, despite everything, check in on her, having, of course, heard what had happened, but other than that he hadn't entered any of their minds the entire week. Even now, when he obviously had, it was only for the briefest of moments, and when Sharon went on, it was on a more cheerful note.

"While you're always there for me, you also push me sometimes," she said, sounding almost surprised by the fact. "Nudge me, really," she corrected on a relaxed smile. "You don't back down from a fight, don't let me tuck in my tail either." Andy smirked at that, Sharon backing down from a fight being an entirely too foreign concept for him, but he knew what she was talking about. "And if you didn't, we wouldn't be standing here today." She half-scoffed, half-laughed. "We would probably still be _not_ dating."

On a cough, Rusty said, "Several times a month," earning himself a halfhearted glare at best from his mother, but he only grinned back.

"And I most certainly wouldn't be this happy," she then went on, her focus on Andy again. "My world's grown, too," she told him, taking his hand, and lightly swaying it through the air as she swept her gaze over the room, letting him know his children and grandchildren entered that world. "I love it, I adore it," she said looking back at him. "And it only gets better with you in it," she said, her voice only growing stronger with each word.

"I'm sorry," she spoke slightly more quietly now, "that we had to worry about possibly having to let go of each other whether we wanted to or not." She took a quick breath before finding her normal voice again. "It is what it is," she said, somewhat lamely. "But I do promise to not let go of you either, to let you hold onto me, too," she told him over a pointed look that had him shake his head and smile crookedly at her and her stubborn independence. "I promise to love you and your world," she looked at the world in question and corrected herself. "Our world," she said confidently. "For as long as I can, I'm standing by you, Andy. All of you, your temper, your disobedience and bad mouth," she said that over a smirk in the direction of Ben and Joey, who giggled, "your patience," she went on more softly, squeezing his hand, "your support, your love." She gave him a broad smile. "You're stuck with me now, too," she finished brightly.

Andy grinned and kissed her before she knew what hit her. She put her hands on his cheeks with the intention of prying his lips away from hers, but found herself kissing him back instead. It was however, a brief kiss, for they immediately pulled apart at the disgusted-sounding "Ew!" coming from the two boys next to them.

The now thoroughly amused officiant, cleared his throat again and said. "I think you forgot something," he told them, as they looked from the boys at him now, Sharon slightly flustered and embarrassed by the unplanned display over which the room was now happily laughing.

Before either of them registered what exactly it was that they forgot, Ben tugged on Andy's sleeve. "Rings, grandpa, rings," he whispered, making Andy start laughing, too.

He took Ben's offered ring then and gave the officiant a quick look. "We've improvised so far," he told him, smiling. "I'm sure you can come up with something to say on your own," the officiant offered.

Andy grinned and looked eagerly at Sharon again.

"Hurry up, grandpa," Joey suddenly said, making Nicole and Dean let out a shocked gasp, while everybody else either laughed or smiled again.

Andy and Sharon just grinned at him. "I'll make it quick," Andy promised before finally taking Sharon's hand in his, instantly wiping their goofy grins off their faces.

He placed the ring at the tip of her finger and said, "I give you this ring," he pushed it past her, as he only just then noted, carefully manicured fingernail, "as a symbol of my love to you," he slipped it on half-way, "and as a promise to never, ever, stray from your side." He pushed the ring the rest of the way and made sure it sat right before looking up at her.

She offered him a wide smile and took the ring from Joey who was now practically bouncing on his feet ready to get them moving.

"I give you this ring," she went at the same pace as Andy did, "as a symbol of my love to you," the ring was in the middle of his finger, "and as my own promise to never, ever, stray from your side either." She looked up as well, when the band was safely on his finger.

"Well," the officiant said, smiling, "by the authority vested in me by the State of California," he looked between them, "I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Everybody started clapping, but when Andy and Sharon just stood there doing nothing, except smiling happily at each other, they quickly stopped. The officiant leaned toward Andy. "You _may_ kiss the bride now," he told him, sending the room into a new fit of laughter.

Andy however, took a step forward and reached for Sharon's glasses, and, although surprised, she let him take them off and offered no protest when he passed them on to Ben.

He then turned his attention to Sharon again and put his hands to each side of her face. He grinned at her, smirked actually. "I may kiss you now, Sharon Flynn."

The playful manner in which he said it had Sharon laugh, but she quickly sobered when he finally did kiss her, her hands quickly finding their way into his hair to kiss him back as the room erupted in a thunderous applause.

 **TBC**

* * *

P.S. Just in case you didn't get that bit with Mike. Remember that one episode in The Closer, when he said "I hate her [Sharon]." and everybody looked at him and he was like, "Did I say that out loud?" XD


	20. Chapter 20 - After the Wedding

Oh, I'm so glad you liked the wedding! :D Here's the rest of their wedding day.

* * *

 **Chapter 20 - After the Wedding**

"You know, Flynn," Provenza muttered as he stepped into his partner's house, Patrice behind him, "I don't remember signing up for a 5 minute walk to your house after all this."

"Louie," Patrice tried, shaking her head, but Andy was quick to retort.

"Well, I'll make sure that, next time, we have a valet service," he told him, rolling his eyes.

"Uh-uh," Sharon immediately interjected. "No next time," she told him, warning him playfully with the wave of a finger.

"Ye Gods," Provenza mumbled, and walked through their living room like he owned the place, Patrice only offering the newlyweds an apologetic look as she followed him.

Parking was somewhat of a hassle. Their driveway had enough space for Sharon's and Andy's cars, while Rusty's usually had to be parked on the street anyway. Considering the rest of the street's population and their respective cars, as their guests slowly filed in from City Hall, finding a spot close to the house had proven somewhat challenging. However, as much as Provenza was complaining it most certainly did not require a 5 minute walk from the parking space.

"It's not my fault you came last," Andy hollered after him, closing the door behind him, having been the one to open it to let his partner inside.

Sharon shook her head at them but, used to their antics, changed the topic. "I'm starving," she told him.

"Well, everyone's finally here," Andy said, following Sharon when she started going after the last of their guests. "I could eat something, too."

...

Provenza cleared his throat, banging, quite ungracefully, a fork against his champagne glass. When he got everyone's attention, he stood up and said, "So, Patrice here," he gave her an unimpressed look, but she merely smiled, "tells me I'm supposed to do some kind of speech." He rubbed his left side. "Or at least I think that's what her elbow in my ribs is trying to tell me," he mumbled grumpily, sending everyone into a fit of laughter and snickers.

They had gone through most of Gus's prepared feast, sitting at the tables that were set up around the patio. Surprisingly, one table was left completely empty, only a few chairs and cutlery missing from it. Provenza and Patrice were sitting at Andy's and Sharon's table along with Sharon's parents. The team was huddled together around another table, while Sharon's and Andy's now combined children and Dean, Gus and Ethan, occupied the third one, apparently not minding at all that they were sitting almost shoulder to shoulder squeezed in like that. Ben and Joey had foregone chairs altogether and found it much more interesting to pick at their food from their guests' laps rather than from their own chairs. Actually, they had spent more time running from table to table than sitting in one place and eating, but it was a happy occasion, and Dean and Nicole had given them some freedom for the time being.

"We're all ears, partner," Andy told him, turning slightly in his chair to look at him. He had his right arm wrapped around the back of Sharon's chair, in which she shifted slightly as well, raising a curious eyebrow at her second in command.

"Well, first of all," Provenza waved a hand at Julio for him to come over. He immediately scrambled to his feet and handed Provenza a long, little box. "I think, you don't want to start misrepresenting yourself, Captain," he told Sharon, nudging Andy a bit to move backwards so that he could give Sharon Julio's package.

She gave him a surprised look, noting the knowing smiles on her squad's faces, too, but untied the little bow that held the lid of the box in place without question. She let out a snort laugh when she lifted it and saw what was inside. Instead of actually pulling the item out of it, she pinned Julio, who had walked back to his table, with a look. "You went through my office?" she asked him, careful to have her low voice sounding as intimidating as possible.

But Julio just shrugged. "I'm the most trustworthy when it comes to snooping around your office, Ma'am," he told her, straightening himself and placing his hands behind his back instead of retaking his seat.

Sharon laughed again and swept her gaze over the rest of her team. "You just might be," she agreed on a mischievous smile, planting slightly offended looks on their faces while Julio only smirked at them in smug satisfaction before finally sitting down again.

Andy on the other hand let out a _very_ offended, "Hey!" sending them all into a fit of laughter.

When Sharon just shrugged in response, Andy shook his head at her and took a peek into the box. He grinned at its contents.

"Anyway," Sharon pointedly started, "thank you," she told them as she finally extracted her gift from its box before carefully placing it in front of her empty plate.

"Oh, nobody's ever gonna believe there's a Captain Flynn on the force now," Andy said, relaxing back into his chair, grin still in place.

They had given her the nameplate that they had presented her with when Andy first proposed, the one 'Captain Sharon Flynn' was written on. She had stored it away in one of her desk drawers, letting it wait for her to finally change her name before putting it on display in her office.

Provenza scoffed. "Because _everyone_ can believe there's a _Lieutenant_ Flynn on the force," he told his partner sarcastically.

That wiped the grin off Andy's face and he shot Provenza an unimpressed glare. When Sharon chuckled, their guests starting to laugh as well, Andy shot her a look, too.

Provenza however, cleared his throat again to get everybody's attention one more time. When he did, he raised his champagne glass and said, "Anyway, here's to the newlyweds!"

Before he could even get to the end of his sentence or anybody could respond to the toast, Patrice hissed, "Louie!"

'Louie' rolled his eyes. "Fine," he muttered and turned to Sharon and Andy, who, like the rest of them, were busy smiling at their grumpy Lieutenant. "You want a speech?" He did not wait for a reply. "Here's your speech." He took a breath. "I've probably spent a year listening to this one," he waved a hand at Andy, "assuring me that you two were _not_ dating," he told Sharon while Andy rolled his eyes. "Not dating my ass, by the way," he added, giving Rusty a quick look, who enthusiastically nodded. Nobody noticed Nicole having to quiet Ben and Joey down when they registered Provenza's particular wording. "So I'm glad you two _finally_ figured it out, because you were driving me nuts!" he told Andy, raising his voice at the last word.

"Anything for you, Provenza," Andy muttered, nonchalantly shrugging, sending their squad in particular into a fit of laughter.

"And now," his partner said the words pointedly loudly, " _both_ of you are driving me nuts," he said, throwing his free arm up, making Sharon laugh softly. "This one now suddenly going on about rules," he said, pointing at Andy and giving their company a quick look, "and this one," he waved a hand at Sharon, " _still_ going on about the rules," he complained, giving the heavens a quick look, Sharon's laughter now slowly being joined by the rest of their guests.

"That's our daughter," Kate suddenly chipped in, smiling brightly at Sharon and bumping a shoulder against Bill's, who knowingly bobbed his eyebrows up and down at the daughter in question.

"And our mother," Ricky added in a voice that verged on an exasperation his other two siblings, judging by their synchronized eye rolls, didn't bother masking at all.

Sharon shook her head at them, but offered them an affectionate smile as well.

When Andy, smirking, feeling clearly proud of the fact, added, "That's my wife." her smile turned into a full fledged grin and, almost coyly, she briefly leaned into his side.

"Yeah, yeah," Provenza waved them all off, rolling his eyes in feigned annoyance. "But on the bright side," he took up where he left off, exaggeratedly cheerfully now, "you're no longer that grumpy," Andy shot him a bland look, "and you've certainly loosened up," he told Sharon, giving her a slightly wary look, clearly knowing he might be overstepping, but she only pursed her lips at him over a halfhearted glare, letting the comment slide. Emily, however, almost at the same time, let out a loud laugh, making Sharon extend the now slightly more heated glare to her as well, which in turn had everybody else laughing, too.

"So there's that," Provenza said lamely. "Now, if only you two would stop dying on each other," he said the words lightly, but it did sober them all somewhat, "that'd be great." He awkwardly rubbed his forehead, growing considerably more serious now. "We're not too keen on the idea, you know," he said, waving a hand over the other two occupied tables.

Sharon grabbed Andy's hand and offered a small smile. "Neither are we, Lieutenant," she assured him, while Andy offered a curt nod in agreement.

"Well, we've just started liking you, Captain," Provenza told her, lightly again, and Andy grinned at the, for the first time, voiced admission, "and you've become more tolerable," he pinned Andy with a look, effectively erasing his grin, "so do try to stay out of trouble a bit better you two." Provenza shrugged and added, almost gently now. "You're good for each other, we'd like to keep you around for a little while longer if you don't mind."

At that Sharon gave him a watery smile, clearly touched, while Andy nodded over a solemn smile, but Provenza just turned around to face the others and raised his glass. "To Sharon and Andy Flynn!" he said.

"To Sharon and Andy Flynn," they all echoed.

...

A few minutes later, Ben and Joey walked up to Sharon and Andy who were talking with Sharon's father.

"Hey," Ben whispered, trying to get their attention while Joey tapped Andy's shoulder. They had discarded their jackets and were now showing off their matching suspenders to everybody.

Surprised, Sharon and Andy turned around too look at them, but Joey revealed the reason for the hushed voice before either one could ask. "Aren't we supposed to have cake?" he asked them quietly.

The question had both them and Bill shaking their heads in amusement. Sharon caught Dean and Nicole giving them a curious look, but she waved them off, letting them know it was nothing.

"Well," Andy told the boys, "you'll have to ask my partner over here." He tilted his head to the older man next to him.

Ben and Joey frowned, confused, but Sharon quickly explained. "Our friends from work wanted to get us a cake as their wedding gift for us."

"Oh, okay," Ben said, but made no move to actually address the Lieutenant and he wasn't paying them any attention either.

"Erm, grandpa?" When Andy raised his eyebrow in response, Joey tentatively whispered, "Say, can't _you_ ask?"

"Yeah, grandma," Ben quietly added, nodding. "Please?"

Sharon and Andy exchanged amused looks but then Andy just shrugged and said, "Sure."

Provenza was turned sideways, talking to Sharon's mother with Patrice. He had taken a strange liking toward her and had no qualms about engaging in conversation with either her or her husband.

Andy poked him, purposefully hard, into his shoulder.

"Ow!" Provenza immediately turned around to glare at him, rubbing the now painful spot. Noticing Andy just grinning smugly, he narrowed his eyes at him. "What?" he bit out, annoyed. Patrice briefly turned her attention to him, but, recognizing her husband's tone of voice and who it was aimed at, shook her head and turned her attention back to Kate.

"I have customers here," Andy said, pulling Joey onto his lap.

Sharon nudged Ben forwards next to him. "These two heard there's supposed to be dessert," she informed him, smiling.

The boys looked at Provenza wide-eyed, sitting and standing quite stiffly. "Oh," Provenza instantly deflated and even smiled at the duo. "Well, I'm sure we can figure something out," he told them, bobbing an eyebrow playfully up and down. "I'll be right back," he said, getting to his feet.

"See?" Andy told them, grinning. "He's all bark and no bite," he said, nudging Ben with his shoulder who watched in surprise as Provenza walked over to his team members.

"He's weird," Ben decided, making Sharon barely suppress a snort.

"Yeah," Andy confirmed, smiling, then leaned in between the two conspiratorially as he let Joey off his lap. "But don't tell him that, we don't want him to know," he told them, pressing a finger to his lips, emphasizing the need to keep it all hush hush.

"Know what?" Patrice asked, curious, having caught only that part of the conversation, as she gave the boys a huge, warm smile. It got the attention of Sharon's mother now, too.

"That grandpa's partner is weird," Joey immediately replied.

Andy covered his eyes with a hand while Sharon started laughing, her parents as well. "Or his wife," he added, painfully too late.

Patrice just laughed, looking around to locate her husband. When she did, on a smile she said, "He really is."

The boys dissolved into giggles.

...

"Well, thank you very much," Andy said, looking into his lap.

Once the team finally presented them with their promised wedding cake ( _"I see my Sharry's the boss here," Bill said, looking pointedly at Sharon's hand that was on top of Andy's as they cut into the cake. Andy just shrugged and confirmed, "That she is," sending everybody into happy laughter._ ), Dean had come over to at least bring up two chairs for the boys to squeeze in next to Sharon and Andy, since all of a sudden they wanted to stick with them, but they had somehow made their way into their laps anyway. So of course, a bit of cake also ended on Andy's pants.

"Sorry," Joey said guiltily, as he finally got off his grandfather's lap and sat down on the chair squeezed in between Provenza and Andy.

"Don't worry about it," Andy waved him off. "You'll just have to pay for the dry cleaning later," he told him.

Joey gave him a wide-eyed look. "But I don't have any money," he said worriedly.

"I'll wait for your first paycheck then," Andy quipped, busy dabbing a napkin to get at least a bit of the stain out of his pants.

"Oh, okay then." That eased Joey's worries somewhat.

"You know what though?" Andy suddenly said, lifting his head to look at his youngest grandson. "There's actually something you can do to make it up for me right now," he told him on a smug grin.

"What?" Joey asked, surprised.

"I could use your help with something." He turned to Ben, who was in the process of getting off Sharon's lap, "Both of your help, actually," he added.

That got Ben's attention and he asked, "With what, grandpa?"

"Come here," Andy waved him closer to him, and huddled their heads together to whisper something into their ears. He pointedly ignored Sharon's now curious look.

When he was done, the two went on their merry way to do whatever it was Andy had asked of them. He offered Sharon a crooked smile and she asked, "What did you put them up to?" She sounded both amused and a tad worried, although, knowing what one thing they had not yet done, she could probably guess what Andy was up to.

Andy just leaned back in his chair, and folded his hands in his lap, the stain now completely forgotten. "You'll see," he told her, following the boys' movement around the garden.

They found Ricky and Rusty who had, in the meantime, started mingling with the squad, and after telling them something, Ricky looked up and gave Andy a thumbs up, before walking over to the patio. Andy grinned and stood up, the move somehow instantly getting everybody's attention.

He exchanged another quick look with Ricky, and, when he nodded, offered Sharon his hand. "What do you say to a dance, Mrs. Flynn?" he asked her, smiling crookedly as Ricky put a song on for them.

"Oh," she said, smiling as she took his hand. Her guess was right. "I thought you'd never ask," she told him, getting up.

...

"I feel just fine," Sharon said.

They were swaying slightly in rhythm to the music as the third song they had been dancing to slowly came to an end. Some of the other guests had joined them, most notably Joey and Ben who had dragged Rusty and Gus onto the patio with them. She was resting her cheek against the inside of Andy's shoulder, her arms loosely wrapped around his waist, while his were around her, enjoying the little quiet bubble they found themselves in.

"I didn't ask," he mumbled.

"You were thinking it," she mumbled back.

That made Andy chuckle and he squeezed her just a little bit tighter, because yes, he _was_ thinking it. "Sorry," he said, sounding genuinely apologetic.

"May I cut in?" somebody interrupted them suddenly, making Sharon lift her head to look at the source of it.

She was smiling before she even saw who it was. "Of course," she said, disentangling herself from Andy and taking the offered hand.

"Well, this seems like a fair trade then," Andy said, smiling and offering Patrice a hand now that Provenza stole his dance partner.

While both Sharon and Patrice laughed, Provenza muttered, "You're really full of it," but dragged Sharon away anyway before Andy could even shoot him an annoyed look, let alone offer a retort.

They spent a few moments dancing in silence, but finally, Sharon couldn't help but say, "This is a surprise." There was a slight question in the words as well.

"Well, apparently," he sounded both amused and annoyed, "I'm weird, so I have to live up to my reputation," Provenza told her, quite expertly leading the casual waltz.

Sharon chuckled. "You heard that?" she asked, her chuckle raising her voice slightly.

Provenza suppressed a grin. "Your two little rugrats called me that." He suddenly pulled back a bit to give her a proper look. "Wait, heard _what_?" he asked, puzzled and suspicious now.

The question had Sharon let her head briefly fall back as she laughed again. "Nothing, Lieutenant," she quipped, but the way she chanced a glance at Andy over the patio gave her away.

"He's a terrible influence on you, you know?" he grumbled, but relaxed again.

Sharon just smiled broadly. "Maybe," she said, not at all worried about it.

"How are you doing, Captain?" Provenza asked after a few moments of silence. The way he asked made Sharon think that was one of the reasons for his unexpected dance offer.

Although she really was growing tired of the question, whether it was voiced or not, she offered him a warm smile and said, "Recovering."

"Good," he said, "because I really hate that paperwork of yours."

"I'll do my best to relieve you of it as soon as possible, Lieutenant," she assured him over an amused look.

Provenza nodded, then tilted his head toward Andy. "I better waltz you back over there," he told her.

"Why?" she asked, surprised since they were barely halfway through their song.

"How many times has he looked over at us?" Provenza asked in reply.

Sharon shook her head. "I lost count," she said on a laugh. While busy dancing with Patrice on the other side of the patio, Andy did indeed throw them a look every now and then, his focus on Patrice never lasting too long. On a more serious note, she added, "He worries."

It was Provenza's turn to laugh. "We all do, Sharon," he told her.

She smiled almost ruefully, but since he just purposefully started waltzing them back toward Andy and Patrice, said nothing in response.

...

Lastly, hours later, and obviously completely against tradition, Sharon found herself dancing with her parents. First with her mother, and then with her father. While she had chatted with everybody else she had danced with that evening, these two dances she enjoyed in silence and her parents didn't seem too keen on talking either. There was something about being wrapped in her parents' arms that she found immensely comforting at the moment and she felt like words might ruin it somehow. That they didn't mind, was in and of itself oddly comforting, too.

It was rather simple, this quiet bubble of contentment she had finally found herself in. No matter how old she herself might be getting, and she'd much rather not let her mind wander to that topic, she would always find their presence more soothing than anybody else's. Whether this sentiment was only intensified due to the week's events, was something she purposefully refused to analyze at the moment. It was soothing in a way not even her own children's or Andy's presence could be. So she enjoyed those moments, quietly, barely even registering the music she was supposed to be dancing to.

She had seen Andy twirling Emily around while she was dancing with her mother. Sharon herself had, of course, danced with all of her children, even Nicole and Charlie, and they had all grinned happily at her, her own children offering heartfelt congratulations, and Andy's offering congratulations wrapped up in heartfelt gratitude. Knowing it would be futile, she did not even try waving their thanks off, instead she told them just how grateful she was as well.

As she now danced with her father, she saw that Andy had roped Nicole into a dance, too. Those scenes only let her current contentment grow.

She felt peaceful. Very much so, considering how the week had started or could have ended. She smiled as she caught Andy's eye. Her husband, she realized, and smiled once more to herself. That particular fact made her feel practically blissful with happiness.

"Sharry," her father's gentle voice pulled her out of her musings after a couple of minutes, and she lifted her chin from his shoulder to look at him, her smile still in place.

"Yeah?" she quietly responded, her absentminded tone of voice revealing to him just how lost in thought she had been.

Bill only smiled. "You'll want to say goodbye to your guests," he told her, tilting his head sideways.

It drew a surprised raise of an eyebrow from her and she stopped to see what he was pointing out to her. And indeed her team had rounded the table they had occupied for most of the evening and were slowly collecting their things, getting ready to go home. Andy had also noticed and was already on his way over to them.

"Oh," she let out, and quickly excused herself to join him.

It was getting late actually and honestly, she was getting a little tired, too. Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't really noticed it until just then, but now there was no denying it that she was, in fact, exhausted. It had been a long day after all, and all of a sudden, leaving the party herself seemed like a rather tempting idea, especially as she slowly started feeling a dull, pulsating thump along her temples, announcing a headache building up as well. She was silently grateful that the entire team decided to take their leave at the same time. Once they left she could ask Andy to call it a night as well. She had no idea how much longer Nicole, Dean, Charlie and Gus intended to stay, but she doubted they would mind and felt more comfortable leaving them behind than her co-workers, especially since her children could stay to continue playing host in their stead.

She caught up with Andy and took his hand to follow the team as they started filing into the house.

"Once again, congratulations, Captain, Lieutenant," Amy enthusiastically said as they reached their living room couch on their way to the front door.

"Yeah, congrats," Mike added, walking in step with Amy.

"Thanks," Andy said on a happy smile, squeezing Sharon's hand.

Sharon was about to offer an equally happy thanks, when, unexpectedly, the room started spinning and much too quickly for her to even process what was happening. She gripped the back of the couch, seeking purchase, her hold on Andy's hand loosening. She didn't even notice Andy immediately stiffening next to her and shooting her a both surprised and concerned look as she took a deep breath, hoping the spinning would stop, and it did, but only for a moment. She took another breath, this one with much more difficulty as black spots entered her vision.

She didn't even hear Andy's panicked, "Sharon!" when, suddenly, the room went completely black.

 **TBC**


	21. Chapter 21 - Good Night

I'm so glad I managed to surprise you with that cliffhanger! Here's the resolution to it. :)

* * *

 **Chapter 21 - Good Night**

She woke up and felt something soft underneath her head. When she opened her eyes, she found Andy's worried ones looking back at her. Actually, she found several pairs of eyes looking at her, so she snapped her own shut again.

"There she is," she heard Patrice softly say.

"Yeah, just a dizzy spell," she heard Mike add.

She finally reopened her eyes.

"Hey," she now saw Andy say.

In response, Sharon groaned.

Her head was in Andy's lap, and when she instinctively made a move to sit up, he slowed her down. "Easy now," he told her, helping her up.

"I fainted?" she asked quietly, looking around the room. Andy was sitting next to her on the couch, and while everybody seemed to be scattered around their living room, worried, only Mike and Patrice were standing close to her, right in front of the couch.

"Yeah," Andy confirmed. "Caught you just in time, too, or else," he shook his head instead of ending the sentence.

Or else she would have had a painful collision with the living room floor.

"Didn't last a minute though, Captain," Mike told her reassuringly, although he was looking at her with quite a bit of worry.

"I think you're just tired, Sharon," Patrice added.

"Yeah, Captain," Mike said, shrugging. "You might've overdone it today."

Sharon could only nod in agreement. She did still feel tired. She felt a little lightheaded, too, but at least the room had stopped spinning.

Kate walked up to the couch, a glass of water in her hand and offered it to her daughter. "Drink," she instructed, when Sharon took it.

She gulped the entire thing down. "Sorry," she at the same time seemed to tell either all of them or nobody in particular. "It just happened before I could react or say anything," she told Andy on an apologetic grimace.

He only nodded, still watching her in concern.

Noticing how pale he looked in comparison to a few minutes ago, clearly shaken up, Sharon tried a small smile and squeezed his hand in silent reassurance, earning herself another nod from him, this time accompanied by a quick smile.

"You okay, mom?" Emily asked, the words sounding slightly shaky.

Sharon turned to the sound of her voice. She was standing behind her, behind the couch, Ricky and Rusty on each of her sides, looking worried. "I am, honey, I think I just need to lie down," she assured all three of them, reaching out to briefly tap Emily's hand that was on top of the couch's back.

Taking that as his cue, Provenza, standing between the TV and the coffee table, clasped his hands together and addressed his team members. "Alright then, let's get going, the Captain's not getting any rest with all of us staring at her," he grumbled, ushering them out.

Sharon managed a small chuckle, but lacking the energy to get up and actually walk them to the door herself as they once again headed for it, only let out a small, "Thank you."

Andy made no attempt to walk them out either and instead just offered a "See you." to the chorus of "See you on Monday." and "Get well soon, Captain." as Sharon's children walked them to the front door.

Patrice stayed back for a moment. "I don't think it's much more than exhaustion from," she paused, "well, everything," she said on a soft smile, "but if it happens again," she looked at Andy, "get her to a doctor."

"Don't worry, I will," Andy said, not looking away from Sharon.

"Otherwise," Mike, who had stayed behind for a bit as well, said, "just get some rest, Captain." He offered a small smile. "It's been a long week," he added on a shrug.

"I will, Mike," Sharon assured him, her voice sounding steadier now. "Thank you," she said again.

"Thanks," Andy said, finally tearing his eyes away from Sharon. "See you on Monday," he told Mike and nodded one last time at Patrice.

Once they were finally gone, Joey and Ben almost tentatively came up to the couch. They had been sitting on their bean bags, Nicole standing next to Ben, Dean next to Joey, watching worriedly what was happening. They only got up after receiving a brief nod and an encouraging smile from their parents, their silent permission to approach her.

"Are you going to be okay?" Joey quietly asked, both him and his brother folding their hands behind their backs as if worried that touching Sharon might hurt her.

"Oh, I'm just tired," Sharon told him, running a hand down his arm, tapping it with her fingers to get him to give her his hand. "It's past my bedtime, I think," she added on a lighter note, tugging on Joey's hand, when he finally offered it, to pull him into a hug.

It got the desired giggle out of him. "You don't have a bedtime, grandma, you're a grown up!" he mumbled, making everyone chuckle, but hugged her back, his brother already standing in line for a comforting hug, too.

"That was scary, grandma," Ben told her, wide-eyed, as they pulled apart. "Grandpa shouted your name really loudly," he added, making Sharon glance over at Andy, but he only shrugged.

"Yeah," Joey said, nodding almost violently. "And we all came running."

"He carried you to the couch," Ben told her, looking at Andy in awe.

"Well, I forgot to carry her over the threshold," Andy said jokingly as he rubbed a hand over the back of his head.

It got Nicole and Dean chuckling again, even Sharon had to smile, but the boys seemed to have no clue what Andy was talking about. They exchanged a quick look and shrugged it off.

"Okay, get well soon, grandma," Ben told her and turned around to face his father. "Can we go home, dad, and let grandma sleep then?" he asked him.

Joey nodded and addressed both of his parents. "Yeah, you heard grandma, she's tired," he told them, sounding rather bossy all of a sudden.

That got Andy and Sharon chuckling again, too, but Dean managed to agree. "Yeah, I think it's time to call it a night," he said, exchanging a quick look with Nicole.

...

Gus and Charlie followed Nicole and Dean and went home as well. Rusty was originally supposed to stay over at Gus's again, but after Sharon's episode, he wouldn't hear of it and decided to just improvise some sleeping arrangements with Ricky in the living room.

While, right now, her children and Ethan were busy cleaning up after everybody left, Sharon was already in bed, her parents sitting on each side of her while Andy was going through his evening routine in the adjoining master bathroom.

Naturally, they were shaken up and wouldn't hear of letting her out of their sight, but that did not stop Sharon from protesting and attempting to assure them that she was feeling okay now. It didn't really help her case that Andy didn't seem to mind them babysitting until he was done either.

"Just indulge us," Kate told her, when Sharon opened her mouth to, for the fifth time in as many minutes, tell them they ought to go to bed and that she would survive a few minutes on her own.

Sharon pursed her lips and shot her mother an indignant look, making her father chuckle.

"Sharry," he said patiently, taking her hand, knowing her current exhaustion and the entire situation really, were what had his daughter slightly testy at the moment.

Sharon sighed and let her head sink into her pillow as she set her gaze on the ceiling. "Yes?" she asked, unable to keep the exasperation out of her voice.

He smiled, even though she couldn't see it. "If it were Ricky, Rusty or Emily, what would _you_ do?" he asked her, quirking a knowing eyebrow at her.

When she abruptly turned her head to look at him, he smirked, knowing he had hit the nail right on the head.

"I'd be even worse," she admitted, gracing her ceiling with a look again. "I know," she added, almost as an afterthought, apologetically even.

"Exactly," Bill gently agreed, squeezing her hand.

"Much worse," Kate added, a teasing smile tugging at her lips.

Sharon gave her a bland look. "Poor Andy," she told them guiltily, the words planting confused looks on her parents' faces.

"Poor Andy?" Kate repeated, giving the closed bathroom door a quick look.

But Bill quickly caught up with Sharon's train of thought and said, "Got a taste of your own medicine, huh, Sharry?" He was openly grinning at her now.

It got Sharon to laugh quietly. "I certainly did," she admitted, the irony of it not lost on her. "And it's only been three days!" she added in disbelief.

Finally her mother laughed, too, realizing she was talking about Andy's own health issues. "Then you should know," she spoke more seriously now, "that we're only worried," she told her daughter over a pointed look.

That made Sharon sigh again. "I know, I just hate that you have to worry about me in the first place," she said, looking at her mother sadly and grabbing her hand.

Kate squeezed it. "We always worry, honey," she responded, giving her a look that said, "A feeling I'm sure you're familiar with."

Sharon smiled. "I know," she glanced at her father, "I'm just used to you doing it from afar," she told them on a shrug.

Bill chuckled. "Well, we'll be out of your hair on Sunday, don't worry," he assured her.

"We promise," Kate added, chuckling as well.

But Sharon stayed serious. "That's not what I meant. I-" she started, but Kate cut her off.

"We know," she said on a warm smile, giving her hand another squeeze.

Before more could be said, Andy came out of the bathroom, stopping at the foot of their bed. He awkwardly rubbed his hand over the back of his head as he looked between Sharon and her parents who were all giving him an expectant look.

"I'm sure you'd like to, uh, continue keeping your eye on her," he started tentatively, "but she should get some rest now," he told Bill and Kate. "So-"

"So you're kicking us out?" Bill asked, already getting to his feet and shooting Andy an amused look.

Andy chuckled, giving Sharon a quick look. "Yeah," he grimaced, "I am," he admitted, looking back at Bill.

Kate dropped a kiss to Sharon's forehead and got up as well, saying, "She does look exhausted."

"Yeah," Andy said, nodding and watching her round the bed. "I'll make sure she gets some sleep, don't worry."

"We know," Bill told him, already at the door, waiting for his wife to join him.

Nobody noticed Sharon rolling her eyes at them. Only when she spoke did they turn their attention to her again. " _She_ is still awake," she told them pointedly, but the small smile on her lips gave way to amusement rather than annoyance.

"Not for long," Andy quipped, giving her a look of warning as he opened the door for her parents, who were busy snickering at the exchange.

Sharon shook her head, but addressed her parents one final time. "Can you just make sure they," her eyes flickered to the bedroom door, "call it a night soon, too?" she asked. "We can clean up the rest tomorrow."

Kate threw her husband an amused smile. "See, we always worry," she told him over a knowing look.

Andy chuckled, when Sharon briefly looked heavenward, but Bill graced her with an actual answer. "We'll shoo them to bed, don't worry. Sleep tight," he told her, stepping aside to let Kate walk through the door first.

"Thank you," Sharon told the both of them. "Good night," she added.

Kate offered a "Good night." in response and finally, the two left their bedroom, Andy throwing them a quick "Good night." as he closed the door behind them.

When he then, wordlessly, climbed into bed next to her, Sharon immediately snuggled into his side, wrapping an arm around him and resting her head against his shoulder, a position that, by now, had become only natural for them.

"Sleep," Andy told her the moment she was tucked in against him.

Surprisingly, the word had Sharon laugh. "This is not how I envisioned our wedding night," she said jokingly.

They had made no plans for their wedding weekend apart from making sure they were not on call, much less working the two days. Sharon and her sense of occasion actually wanted to go away for the weekend, but Andy insisted she enjoy her children's visit instead and join him on a proper honeymoon later in the summer. But still (putting aside everything else that had happened in the week), fainting, in front of her squad at that, spending part of her evening with her parents in her bed and feeling like she was too exhausted to even sleep, was certainly not how she, or Andy for that matter, expected their first night as a married couple to unfold.

Only Andy didn't seem to find her joke funny at the moment. He entangled their legs, pulling her even closer to himself, and squeezed his arms more tightly around her. "This is _exactly_ how I envisioned it," he told her.

The low rumble he let the sentence out on had Sharon sigh. While she wasn't trying to downplay her situation, for she was well aware of how serious it could have all been, she had hoped they could end the evening on a lighter note. Since sleep was the most she felt up to at the moment (and she privately dreaded waking up from another nightmare), she at least wanted their wedding day not to end with both of them worried and reeling from her little fainting episode.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I was going to ask you to call it a night when the team left," she added, suddenly not sure he had believed her earlier when she said the dizziness came out of the blue.

Andy sighed, too. "Nothing to apologize for," he mumbled.

Ironically, Sharon again said, "I'm sorry."

"You just scared the living crap out of me," Andy suddenly said, the terror he must have felt when she lost consciousness raising his voice slightly.

"I know," she practically whispered the words. "I just didn't pay attention to how tired I was until it was too late."

"I know, don't worry about it," he assured her. "Just sleep now, Sharon. Sleep," he instructed again, kissing the top of her head.

Resigned to the fact that there really was nothing more she could say to ease his worries, she just squeezed his side gently in a silent goodnight and closed her eyes.

Within a second though, she opened them again and looked up at Andy. He gave her a puzzled look so she quickly explained, "I didn't throw my bouquet."

Andy let out something in between a laugh and a groan. "Oh, my God, Sharon," he told her incredulously. "You just passed ou-" he started on an annoyed and exasperated note, but stopped himself, shaking his head, suddenly deciding to say something completely different. "You know what? Just give it to Emily, I'm sure Ethan won't mind the hint."

His indulging, almost condescending, tone of voice was hard to miss, so she didn't even laugh at his lame joke but instead gave him a bland look before tucking herself into his side again. "I just might," she assured him sarcastically.

"Good," Andy told her on a genuine chuckle this time, making her smile in response. "Now, _please_ , just get some rest," he added.

She sighed again. He was practically begging her and there was no mistaking not just the concern in his voice, but the sudden urgency in it, too. "Okay," she relented quietly. "Good night, Andy," she told him, closing her eyes again.

He turned his bedside lamp off and wrapped his arms around her a little more firmly. "Good night," he told her.

...

Sharon couldn't tell how long she had been asleep when something pulled her out of her slumber. She took a deep, sleepy breath, enjoying Andy's warmth underneath her cheek, glad that if she had to wake up at all, at least it wasn't due to another nightmare. Just as the thought crossed her mind, she realized that _Andy_ was actually the 'something' that woke her up this time. Suddenly, dread washed over her, constricting her chest painfully, as she realized _why_ he woke her up.

His breathing was labored.

"Andy!" she let out in panic.

 **TBC**


	22. Chapter 22 - Too Close to This

**Chapter 22 - Too Close to This**

"Andy!" Sharon repeated much more loudly than the middle of the night in a quiet bedroom probably called for. She lifted her head off his chest, where apparently it had slid down to in her sleep, so quickly that a sharp pang of pain jolted through her injured shoulder, but she barely acknowledged it.

He suddenly stiffened, but only for a brief moment, before his breath hitched again and she realized what was really going on.

"Andy," she repeated again, much more quietly, much more softly this time, pulling herself up and reaching a hand up to his face. "Hey," she said, her own breath getting caught in her throat now.

In response, he only wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down again, burying his face in her hair.

She wrapped her own arms around him and buried her face in his neck, only one thought occupying her mind just then. _He wasn't having a heart attack._ Another labored breath went through him, shaking both him and her. He was crying, quietly fighting back the sobs that seemed to be trying to choke him.

"Andy," she mumbled, shifting slightly to press her cheek against his. "It's okay," she whispered, running her hand gently up and down his side. "Everything's okay," she reiterated.

At that, what little control he still had over his emotions vanished and his sobs finally started pouring out of him. With each breath one sob. He managed to tighten his hold on her even more, probably oblivious to the fact that it was tugging on her shoulder (not that she was too aware of it at the moment either) and continued taking long, ragged breaths as he kept losing his fight with his tears.

She shifted again, despite his tight grip, and placed her head on his chest, never ceasing her soothing ministrations against his side.

"It's okay," she kept repeating, quietly on barely a whisper, almost chanting the words. "I'm here," she would add in between at times, trying to keep her own threatening tears at bay.

Whether they stayed like that for just a few minutes or an hour, neither one of them could tell but finally, slowly, Andy started taking steadier breaths, his painful sobs replaced by sniffling, until he seemed to have let it all out.

"It's okay," Sharon repeated one last time as she felt him loosen his hold on her. She pulled herself up, sitting down on her bent legs to look at him. She put a hand on his chest, then reached over him to turn on the light on the nightstand on his side of the bed. "Hey," she told him gently when she met his eyes, red rimmed.

He still remained quiet and just looked at her sadly, swallowing every now and then, so she leaned down, putting a hand on each side of his face, running her thumbs over his tear-stained cheeks, and kissed him. "Hey," she repeated again when she pulled back, not letting go of his face.

He took another breath, the steadiest one in what seemed like forever. "They kept telling me I was too close to this," he finally said, putting a hand over one of hers. There was a much more gravely quality to the low, quiet voice he spoke in than usually.

She smiled, briefly, barely noticeably. "You were," she told him gently. She did not say it in admonishment for having been part of the search for her. It was merely fact. As her then-fiance, he was simply too close to the case.

His look only got more intense and he shook his head. "No," he disagreed, rather forcefully, as he laced their fingers together and squeezed her hand tightly.

"Andy," she started but he only shook his head again so she promptly closed her mouth.

He lifted their joined hands, reached for her ring finger with his other hand and started turning around the ring he had placed there only a few hours ago, shaking his head again. It was a simple ring, a mix of white and yellow gold, a faint curved line stretching over the length of it. They only had their first names engraved into them along with the date of their wedding day.

When he just remained quiet, she tried again. "Andy."

He looked at her again, again shaking his head, but not letting go of either her hand or her finger. She swallowed back a painful lump in her throat when she realized his eyes had glazed over with tears again and that he was silent because he didn't trust himself to speak right now. He was trying to compose himself.

She had never seen him cry before. She swallowed again, realizing that she was the reason why he suddenly was. She tried again, but this time, she couldn't get his name past her lips, not even past her throat as it painfully closed again, forcing her to swallow once more and take a ragged breath instead. The growing pressure in her chest didn't help either.

"Do you know just _how_ this week could have ended?" he finally said, blinking a few times, probably to clear his tear-clouded vision.

The sob she was so desperately trying to hold back, finally escaped and with it, her dam burst.

He made no move to try to console her, or even to touch her beyond keeping his hold on her hand. Instead he kept his gaze on her hand for a couple of minutes, until finally he looked at her again and, thickly, told her, "I am so sorry, Sharon."

She gave him an incredulous, teary-eyed look. The words even managed to slow down her tears somewhat. "What, in the name of God, _for_ , Andy?" she managed to ask in a high, shocked voice.

"I had no idea, Sharon," he added, the words making absolutely no sense to her, but his inflection letting her know that, whatever it was, he now actually had much more than just an idea about it.

"No idea?" she repeated, her confusion now having put a stop to her tears altogether. "About what?" she asked, rubbing away the tears on her cheeks with her free hand.

He turned his head and looked at the poorly illuminated ceiling. "I could have died, too," he said, so quietly that she wasn't sure she had heard him right.

But then it clicked and she knew she hadn't misheard him. His 'dust up with the car'. His blood clot. His heart attack. Her kidnapping. Her fainting.

"No, don't go there," she said firmly, pulling her hand out of his grasp to clasp his face again. She shook her head when he met her gaze. "No," she repeated, louder this time. "We both could have, Andy, but we _didn't_ ," she told him, pinning him with a hard, determined look. " _You_ 're here. _I_ 'm here," she told him. "We're _married_ now, for crying out loud!" she told him, her voice thinning as if she was both elated and absolutely stunned by the fact.

He finally smiled, a small, but warm, genuine smile. "They were wrong," he told her, again throwing her for a loop.

"Who?" she asked, completely incapable of following his train of thought at the moment.

"I'm not too close to this," he told her in answer, shrugging suddenly, and there was a slight airy quality to his words as if they had surprised him.

"Andy, _what_ are you talking about?" she asked him, sitting back and resting her hands on top of her thighs to give him a resigned, almost exasperated, look. She could usually easily pick up on his thoughts but right now she really had no clue what could possibly be on his mind.

"I'm not," he repeated, sounding defensive now and she couldn't tell if he was defending himself against her or against somebody or something entirely different. It was as if he was having a private argument with someone in his head, and she was only privy to his side of it.

She sighed but stayed quiet, deciding to just let him come to the point at his own pace. Whatever he was talking about, clearly he was still trying to wrap his head around it, so she just waited it out.

Finally, he turned and got up to mirror her position on the bed. He put his hands over hers and looked at her, shaking his head again. "I'm not too close to you," he told her confidently, smiling slightly more brightly now. "Sharon," he told her, and the way he said her name made her swallow again, as if to brace herself for whatever was coming next, "I don't think I can get close _enough_ to you!"

He sounded so honest, innocent even, like a child in wonder, that all she could do was keep looking at him in silence for a few more moments. Then, suddenly, without knowing what came over her, she burst out laughing. She just let her head fall down, the uncontrolled laughter bubbling to the surface.

"Oh, Andy," she said in a high-pitched voice, her laughter not dissipating in the least.

"It's true though," he said on a high defensive note, but finally started laughing, too, leaning his head against hers and letting his own laughter rumble through him.

"Oh, God," she said, finally managing to pull herself together. "We'll wake up the entire house," she said, lifting her head to shake it.

That suddenly put a smirk on his face. "It _is_ our wedding night," he told her over a scalding look full of innuendo.

She put her face in her hands and shook her head again, laughing a little more. "You're terrible," she mumbled into her hands.

He reached for them to pry them off her face and looked at her. He had grown serious again, she realized as she met his gaze.

"I'm sorry," he told her.

She could tell what he was talking about this time around and she finally sobered again, giving him a concerned look. If sacrificing a bit of her sleep was what it took to lift some of the heavy weight she was sure he was carrying around these past few days, he really had absolutely nothing to apologize for. Especially not when _she_ had kept _him_ awake as well, and probably more times than she even knew she had.

"Do you feel better now?" she gently inquired.

He shrugged and put his hands over her upper arms, pulling her down onto her side with him as he lay down on his own side. She followed willingly, even though she finally registered the slight pain in her shoulder.

"I don't know," he said, a note of wonder to his words. "I couldn't fall asleep." He pinned her with a guilty and concerned look. "I didn't _dare_ falling asleep," he said, sounding terrified all of a sudden and she briefly closed her eyes, hating that she worried him that much. "And then it all started replaying in my head again and it just came over me," he said lamely. "And when it did, I didn't know how to make it stop," he added quietly. "The idea of you..." he trailed off on a heavy sigh, giving her a scared, pained look as he shook his head as if trying to shake off the entire idea.

She smiled somewhat ruefully. "I know the feeling," she told him. She had faced the same idea more than once.

He chuckled bitterly. "Yeah, I figured that out, too," he said, sounding almost regretful now. "I meant what I said, you know," he went on, "I _can't_ let go of you."

"I know," Sharon only just managed to say before Andy continued talking.

"I was so scared," he told her. "I'm still terrified." He swallowed before going on. "Terrified that something will happen, Sharon, and that you'll be gone again."

When his voice broke over those last few words, shelet out something between a gasp and a choked back sob. She could barely make his face out through the tears that glazed over her eyes, but she knew his were teary again as well. "Me, too," she told him, the words leaving her barely above a whisper as she tried to pull herself together. "When you collapsed in the murde-"

"I know, I know," he interrupted heatedly, and as she blinked her tears away she realized he was offering her a watery smile. "No wonder you were hovering that much," he told her on a slightly lighter note.

It got a faint chuckle out of her. "We're even now, aren't we?" she asked, smiling now, too.

Andy shook his head and leaned in closer to her to kiss her. "You can hover as much as you want," he told her when he pulled back. "Just," he pinned her with a hard look, "don't go," he added thickly.

"I've got nowhere else to be," Sharon told him in response before giving him a quick kiss herself.

It drew the desired chuckle from him, and Sharon had to smile when she realized the tears in his eyes were now gone, too. He nodded. "Good, neither do I," he told her.

She traced her fingers over his cheek, suddenly feeling oddly relaxed as she let her head sink into her pillow while she watched him do the same. "I know what you mean though," she told him.

At his puzzled look she had to smirk slightly.

"I can't get close enough to you either," she finally said, deciding to let him in on her thoughts much sooner than he had let her in on his a few moments ago.

He took a deep breath, as if chasing the heaviness of it all away somehow, and smiled. "It's okay though," he told her, nodding as he repeated her earlier words. "We're going to be okay," he said, more confidently now, scooting closer to her and reaching for the covers.

She smiled, too. "We are," she agreed, letting him tuck them in.

He pressed his lips to her forehead for an impossibly long moment and started pulling her closer to himself, apparently ready to give sleep another try. Unfortunately, at the movement, Sharon let out an involuntary hiss of pain and he instantly stopped to pull back, his left hand resting only lightly on her right arm now.

"What is it?" he asked worriedly.

Sharon let out a chuckle, despite the discomfort in her shoulder. "We really should ease up on the hugging," she told him, carefully trying to shrug her injured shoulder, testing the level of pain in it. It was manageable, she decided.

"Oh, God, I forgot, I'm sorry," Andy said. "Oh, God, do I need to get you to a doctor?" he asked, sounding positively alarmed now as he started pulling his hands completely away, probably ready to jump out of bed and to his feet, too.

"No," Sharon quickly told him, reaching for his hand to calm him down. "It's throbbing a bit," she admitted, putting his hand over her side. "I just need to stop moving so much and it'll pass, I'm sure."

Andy stiffened and gave her a long, slightly narrow-eyed look. She half-expected him to ask if she was sure. However, he just nodded and said, "Okay, let's try to sleep again."

When she quietly agreed with his suggestion, he turned off the lamp and gently and much more carefully this time scooted closer to her again. She hummed quietly, enjoying the added, comforting warmth when he wormed his arm between her side and the mattress.

Once settled in, he spoke again, much more relaxed now and sounding absolutely content. "I love you, Sharon Flynn," he told her, closing his eyes.

Her new name planted a silly smile on her face, but she just tucked her head in under his chin, resting her cheek on her palm before draping her other arm over his and pulling him even closer. When she felt his hands folding behind her back, effectively locking her in his embrace, her smile only grew wider.

She closed her eyes as well and, when she finally replied, her words left her on a thick whisper. "I love you, too, Andrew Flynn."

That she still might have nightmares or that he still might have sleepless nights was by now a given.

But yes, together, close like this, they would be okay.

In time.

 **THE END**

* * *

So, I felt like it was time for Andy to have a little breakdown of sorts. I considered making an argument out of it, you know, in typical temperamental Andy fashion before coming to the crux of the matter. And I even wrote it, with a different ending to the previous chapter, too, but it just turned out to go against what I imagine Shandy to be like. Miscommunication leading to yelling at each other? That just doesn't fit the bill in my book. [Although that did make me wonder what an argument between them might look like.] That's why I, ultimately, opted for a more mellow approach. I'm not too sure I did a good job of it, but I guess I liked it enough to post it. *shrugs*

Anyways, this also seemed like a good place to end. **Thank you** all so much for reading, reviewing, following and liking this story! Your response, as always, has been amazing and it certainly made writing even more fun than it already was. (Who knew writing angst could be so much fun? haha)

Oh, and to sundishine2, sorry about the lack of a honeymoon. I hope I didn't disappoint though.

I'd also like to apologize for any mistakes I may have made. Like I've already said in my earlier stories, English is not my native tongue, so I'm sure you can find plenty of them, so, sorry about those! Btw, if there's some blatant error that annoyed you or I kept repeating all the time, _please_ tell me! I'm always eager to learn and improve! XD

And, uhm, I don't know if I'll post anything new until season 5b airs (when I'll _definitely_ continue my episode add-ons), but if inspiration hits me again or you have some ideas (and I have time) maybe I do pop in with another story (or one-shot) in the meantime.

Either way, see you around! Ta-ta! :)


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